DIB (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)
by glowzilla48
Summary: It was a gift from the humans, a gift Zim was more than willing to accept in order to enact the peace treaty with Earth. too bad this gift isn't willing to play nice just yet. Zim's soon finding out hes in for a bumpy ride with his new housemate. Zadr for those who love it.
1. Chapter 1

**D.I.B. (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 1: First Contact**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim, wish I did, but sadly, I don't.**

The tall elegant figure of the Irken empire maneuvered through the halls of his castle, grace and speed that would rival the strongest of invaders shown easily on his slender yet tall form as he walked, an air of authority and pride shown in his stance. Making his way through the various twists and turns that formed the labyrinth of the underground archives, Irken tallest Zim wound his way through the corridors, bypassing the foot drones that resided within the castle, all seeming to stop in their tracks to watch their leader as he made his way to the higher levels. It was rare for the tallest to leave the castle, and if he did venture out of the archives or stop in his work, it would be to attend a meeting of generals, or to recharge in his sleeping chambers. As rare as it was however, Zim wasn't complaining about having to leave, in fact he was almost excited to get out of the dank sour smell of old books and papers that littered the archive room. Having spent almost a whole month in the cellar of his castle, sorting through paperwork from invaded planets to Irks resource levels, and then to the invader output/ input resources and analyzing the data brought back from conquered planets to be sifted through and sorted out as to what is useful and what isn't. What was only supposed to be a couple of days turned into a long, grueling month of filling, staking, graphing, organizing, and alphabetizing all, or almost all of Irks files to be stored in the main computer.

Zim, at the end of the month, sifting through the last of the files, came across one of the current planet's paper work that was to be conquered. Gaia, or Earth as it was commonly known as, a planet so far out in another galaxy that the invaders when they were originally sent to examine the planet and collect data for conquest, nearly went by it without stopping.

It was tiny compared to Irk, and most of its surface was covered with what is now known to be called water, or (H2O), a very harmful chemical to Irkens as it turns out. Having read the information the first invader sent once he landed on the planet. The acidic substance seemed to fall from the sky, burning his flesh and causing welts to form across his skin where it was directly exposed to the substance. Upon further examination of the planet and its inhabitants, the -invaders soon realized that the humans were adapted to live with this deadly acid, and even consumed it on a daily basis. Surprisingly enough, humans couldn't live without H2O for more than a couple of days or they would die. Much like their oxygen intake, they needed to breath air, eat and drink water, and water based substances. Even their bodies were comprised of more than 80% of water.

Zim was fascinated by the amount of information his invaders seemed to gather from the small planet, learning all kinds of neat facts that would come in handy if he were ever to interact with these, humans. Although water wasn't the only thing humans were adaptable with, turns out, most of the planet consisted of harsh environments and storms that plagued the planet almost on a yearly basis. Storms that were so crippling to the planets population, the humans built their living structures so that they could avoid most damage the storms could cause. Next to that, the planet had deserts, oceans, forests, and natural untamed wildlife and terrain that the humans had not yet explored or conquered. Not to mention their space exploration and theories were laughable at best. Even their technology seemed archaic and destructive to their own atmosphere, polluting their air and destroying their own wildlife in the process. The planet was going to need a lot of work done to it if it was ever going to be suitable for habituating other sentient beings and life forms from other galaxies.

But what really caught Zim off guard was the date in which the files were sent to Irk via transporter. The message was over 6 months old, and from the dates of the next scheduled landing from that invader ship, they were docking in less than a few days back to Irk. Zim to say the least was ecstatic for the hopes of meeting a human. Such an adaptable species living so far away from any other known life forms was almost unheard of. Even if their technology was laughable, they made it incredibly far on their own without the help of extraterrestrials. The status on the planet was still un- conquered, but Zim figured he'd get more information from the invaders upon their return.

This was exactly what Zim needed as an excuse to leave his castle, and he was taking every opportunity he had to be in time at the loading bay when the ship landed. Even if the planet wasn't conquered yet, the invaders must have brought something with them, and Zim was anxious to see what it could be.

Getting to one of the upper levels of the castle Zim seemed to meander through the halls, having traveled through the building many times, Zim always seemed to get lost right before heading out the doors that would take him to the outside of the castle. It wasn't like Zim hadn't traveled in and out of the building before, the infrastructure was built specifically to confuse and prelude intruf=ders from getting to the tallests in the case an assassination attempt was underway. It was meant for security, but Zim figured it was just to keep him from leaving the castle.

Using one of the security drone hallways, Zim easily slipped through the hideaway door meant for the janitorial staff, the only residing workers who lived in the castle with their tallest. In all of Irks history of tallests, Zim was the only one who cut the population of workers in his castle by nearly 95%. What used to hold nearly 250 workers was soon reduced to 80. Zim saw no reason to have that many workers, and he made it clear that their services weren't needed because he could handle most of the internal structuring of the computers mainframe by himself. Being directly uploaded into the castle via his pack, Zim was able to access any area of the castle that needed assistance and fix the problem with his own working knowledge of the structure.

Since cleaning was the only thing Zim lacked a capability of, and the janitorial staff lived in the castle on the bottom floors, it was easier to keep them on as workers. The janitors didn't need to find a new place to live, and Zim could run his castle in peace and quiet.

It was a good system since Zim loved the solitary life inside of the castle, and the janitorial staff rarely bothered him, only coming to his aid if he needed help cleaning a mess, which was usually his sleeping chambers after a couple of weeks. He normally wouldn't let them enter his room, but when it became cluttered enough to the point he couldn't actually get to the sleeping pod, he would call for assistance in getting the mess cleared out of his way. And although Zim would never admit it, the janitors would all occasionally joke that Zim was the only tallest who would bring paperwork to bed instead of a woman.

Zim never minded the idle gossip, knowing all too well the previous tallests and their behavior with such dealings throughout Irken history. He however had no time for dealing with such tedious displays of rash and unfavorable behavior. But to put it in all honesty, Zim just didn't care for people, let alone finding a partner to have and proceed with casual coitus.

Zim was also the only tallests in Irken history to not use the castle and its multitude of space for other luxuries that were allowed upon tallests. One of those luxuries being the ability to house large and exotic pets. Tallests were known for having rare animals and species from other planets, that's why the castle, or rather skyscraper, was built with reinforced steel and the hardest of materials to hold up the massive structure. Not to mention the bullet proof glass that was 4 feet thick and tinted so as not to allow others a peek inside. Although others on Irk such as nobles and war generals were allowed pets, the tallests were always the first at the slave auctions and grand markets so as to allow for first choice. Invaders were allowed pets too from the planets they had conquered, but since they tended to move around a lot, it was less likely to be done.

Zim, however much of an oddity he was for not contributing to the natural way of the tallests before him, he didn't see anything wrong with his solitary life, and rather enjoyed being alone in his tower, reading and gaining knowledge on other planets that come under their power. Figuring out a long time ago that instead of annihilating all life from other planets, peace treaties were enacted so as to ensure the planet stays within Irks control, yet the inhabitants could continue to live life the way they normally would. Irk was now 200 planets strong, with a military force consisting of other species that believed in unity among races. It wasn't unnatural now for invaders who were sent to conquer planets coming back with the prospect of a peace treaty, but usually that was done if the planet was of use to the Irken empire. Although Zim was known for giving planets who had yet to advance very far in their own evolutional backgrounds leeway when dealing with such trivialities.

I just want to see a human, thought Zim as he made his way down the quiet back alleys so as not to gain any unwanted attention to himself. Just a quick look and then I'll be back down in the archives he thought cheerily. Missing the air of Irk and craving the taste of the two suns bitting into his emerald skin. Black sleek antenna at full attention as he made his way down the street towards the loading bay, his ruby red eyes vibrant as they took in the surroundings of Irks population going about their day in the markets.

Just a quick look was all Zim wanted, but little did the tallests know, today would be the last day he had with his solitary and quiet life inside of his tower.

 **Page break**

 **Loading Bay- Irken ports for Incoming Invader Ships**

Zim stood at the edge of the last loading helm, bay number 064. He was trying to be patient, but the more he read about the humans through the electronic feed he connected with the invaders informational unit, the more he wanted to see one.

One tidbit of information Zim seemed to find fascination was that humans seemed to have these grooves on their skin, particularly on their fingers. The grooves formed a pattern that was translated to be a fingerprint. Each human had their own unique fingerprint, and no two humans had a matching set. Not even the humans who came in pairs of two, three, or even four, all of whom look exactly alike, yet their fingerprints were all different. Zim even checked himself, looking at his three clwed fingers on each hand to see if… yes! He did have fingerprints as well.

Enthusiastic about this new discovery, much like a child discovering where their parent stashed their snacks, Zim went around placing his finger on any and all surfaces he could get too to see if the fingerprint would transfer onto that surface. Wondering if he had the natural oils and chemicals in his sytem that would make print transfer successful like the humans.

When he learned that he could do that as well, Zim went so far as to try and put his fingerprint on a foot drones head as he stopped to give his tallest the appropriate salutation for a greeting. The drone to that affect became nervous, fell to his knees, blubbered out a quick and hasty, "I'm sorry!" before running off.

Zim merely chuckled before heading back to the dock, now seeing the ship breaching the planet's atmosphere in preparation for the landing. He would have felt bad for the drone had the excitement from earlier not taken over his mind again. He wanted to see a human so badly, wanted to feel that fur on their heads and wanted to look at their strange five fingered hands, look at their fingerprints and match them with his own.

He was nearly jumping in his boots with excitement, his black robes with red lining billowing at his feet as he began to pace around the dock, watching the ship pull closer and closer to its destination.

After an eternity of waiting, the ship finally pulled into the dock, the hangar door unlatching and opening up wide for Zim to hastily look inside. Not waiting for the invaders to exit from the top of the ship, Zim quickly slipped inside the large hangar, coming face to face with a lot of…. Foliage? Slightly disheartened, Zim quickly began walking around the ship, looking at all the plants but not finding a trace of a human in sight.

Well this is disappointing, thought Zim grumpily, "I wanted to see a human." It was grumbled to the open space, Zim meandering towards the back of the ship, soon coming face to face with a large metal tank.

Zim just stared at it for a few seconds, thinking he had reached the end of the hangar, but noticing after a couple of seconds that the metal didn't reach the sides of the ship or the top, forming a large metal box standing almost 60 feet high.

This must be where they're keeping the humans, thought Zim as he felt around the box for the switch that would lift the metal away to expose what was inside. Coming up empty Zim resigned himself to just waiting for the invaders to open it for him, becoming impatient all over again as to what was taking them so long. He wanted to see a human already!

It felt like an eternity later before Zim picked up movement via his antenna, alerting him that there were others moving closer to his position in the back of the ship. Turning expectantly and coming face to face with three invaders. The tallest of the three, Scout, as it said on his invader I.D. tag stepped forward first. Bowing deeply to his tallest, antenna flicking back in a submissive gesture he quickly saluted and gave the introductions of the other invaders and a brief description of what was going on in concerns with planet Earth.

"Invader Scout reporting first my tallest, and these are my colleagues, invader scutch and invader plink. We are here to discuss a possible peace treaty with Earth, granted with your permission. We saw traits in the planet and its inhabitants that could be useful for Irks empire and galactic conquest." The other two invaders seemed to stand slightly behind Scout as he addressed their tallest, not being comfortable with his closeness and just staying slightly out of sight.

"Yes yes a peace treaty seems nice," commented Zim dryly, "but have you not brought a human to make the offer themselves?, I've been wanting to meet one since seeing their data and files provided from your information extraction."

Scout shrunk only slightly from his tallests demands, but addressed the issue nonetheless with a fines only found in invaders when pacifying a situation that could turn dramatic.

"My tallests, the humans have, in hopes of gaining your good graces with accepting the peace treaty, sent us with a gift as incentive for you specifically. And although their science and space travel hasn't adapted quite as fast as our own adaptions to the universes we traveled too, their science in DNA engineering is stunning at best."

"They sent me a gift so as to make me agree to a peace treaty?" Zim asked skeptically. It wasn't uncommon for Zim to be bribed in the hopes that a planet would be spared from the destruction of the Irken armada. And in truth Zim has spared many planets with such bribes, being given many space ships and materials Zim found uses for. But never would he have worded the bribes as gifts.

But here these humans were, sending him a 'gift' in hopes to spare their planet. If Zim wasn't excited before he sure as hell was now, yet he withheld from showing such excitement on his face. Schooling his features into the disinterested façade he usually wore when dealing with people.

"Very well, you may show me this gift, but I'm still itching to see a human. Even without the gift, you could have enacted a peace treaty without me, the humans seem like they could be a great addition to the Irken empire. Not to mention they are vastly similar to us in means of anatomical build. Am I correct in assuming we are compatible with mating as well?" The question was said nonchalantly, but it didn't stop invader Scout from turning a light shade of pink from the brashness of his tallests question.

Coughing to the side slightly Scout answered tentatively, "we are compatible mating wise, but it is unknown if we can reproduce naturally with the humans DNA."

Zim seemed pacified with this information, but became antsy again as the prospect at seeing what the humans have given him itched his insides, watching Scout move over to the hidden controls of the metal box and place his finger on a switch. Turing to his tallest, Zim nodded in approval and Scout hit the switch, moving back as the metal encasing what was now a large glass tank lifted into the top of the ship, revealing its hidden contents to the excited tallest.

What greeted Zims sight was something he had never expected to see or witness in his life time. Sure Irk had its fair share of scientists who dabbled in genetic DNA mutation, that didn't include the many illegal experimentation wards Zim had to shut down when he came to power. But this was completely unheard of, even bordering on downright impossible. But Zim had to hand it to the humans, what they lacked in space travel and weaponry they made up for with DNA and genetically engineered humans.

The creature resembled a human on his upper torso, containing two eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears, two arms and a thin lithe chest. His head even had that strange fur humans seemed to have, its pitch black color deeply contrasting with his almost pure white skin. But what really caught Zims attention was what he saw below the human's waist, starting at his slightly defined curvy hips, moving downwards to reveal not two legs like what normal humans sported, but a long, multicolored fish tail. The fins at the end were a bright translucent white, almost shimmering in the light afforded on the ship, hitting the fins and giving them a rainbow effect. There were also a secondary set of fins that landed just below the humans hips, the same translucent white of the larger fins of his tail.

As Zim stared longer at the creature gliding in the water of the tank, he could just barely make out the gills on either side of the humans well defined torso, just below his ribs were three gills on either side. Opening and closing reflexively as the creature breathed. Those long, slender fingers had sharp ends, most likely claws, and were webbed between the digits. The creature also had nipples, being more mammal-like in his nature though he represented himself as more of an exotic aquatic fish. The curve of his hips was noticeable, that and his slender form with shoulder length black locks, he would have been mistaken for a female from far off, but upon closer inspection it was easy to tell he was male. Although there was no outward appearance of genitalia, Zim figured the feature was there, just not present.

His eyes were another thing all together, and Zim found himself stepping closer to the glass, reaching his hand out to lay on the slightly cool surface, as if to touch this strange and mystifying creature. Those eyes, large gold optics, resembling a planet inside of a white casing, twists of silver and specks of amber outlining the orbs. The pitch black of the pupil looking much like a swirling black hole, threatening to swallow Zim whole lest he stare too long.

Seeming to feel eyes on its form, the creature soon turned those enchanting eyes upon Zims ruby red optics, almost as if it were being called to by the foreign being it was being watched by. Although pleased was not the word Zim would use to describe the creatures reaction towards himself.

The calm serenity that once filled the tank seemed to evaporate once the creatures eyes landed on Zim, full pink lips pulled back to reveal razor sharp teeth, a growl emitting from that once delicate looking creature. Rather than being heard, the growl was felt, vibrating the tank walls in its ferocity as the creature neared Zim in a hostile matter. The scales of his tale which were once smooth in appearance, lifted to give the impression of a frightened cat, the tail growing in size as the scales lifted to give it a menacing look. But instead of that fluffy look cat tails have, this creatures scales were triangular in shape, and no doubt sharp, the claws of its fingers flexing as its scales rippled with the force of its rage. It was no longer a delicate marvel of science, but a feral, menacing animal with a rage that was quite literally terrifying. It nearly screamed predator, promising a slow and painful death to anyone who encroached on his territory. Zim would never admit it, but a trickle of fear slowly slid down his back, tingling his spin and making his breath pick up in pace. Though he didn't back down from the creatures hostile display, noticing as an afterthought that the creature also had two thin electric blue antenna on his head, with what also looked like barbs coming off of them, and a light stream of electricity being generated throughout the lengths. A beautiful silent killer, that what Zim saw as he looked at this creature. The creature the humans had created, and were now offering to him as a gift. And although the human hybrid didn't seem to like his predicament, Zim was going to use it to his advantage.

The Irken tallest may not have coveted anything in his unnaturally long life up until this moment in time, but seeing this creature made something stir deep within his organs. He wanted this creature, this unnaturally beautiful killer, and he would have it, by any means necessary, he would have it.

 **To be continued. Read and review please ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

**D.I.B. (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 2: What's your name?**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim, wish I did, but sadly, I don't.**

Zim held his ground against the hostile creature, straightening his posture and standing to his full 6'8 height. Although compared to this creature, combined with his long tail and antenna, Zim figured the creature to be about 8 feet long. He had a good two feet on him but it didn't stop Zim from looking challengingly back, displaying his dominance and not backing down, even when the hybrid came very close to the glass. Growl never lessening in its intensity, vibrating the tank walls so much Zim could feel his claws tapping lightly with the feeling.

Zim had to concentrate hard on not getting mesmerized by the way the creature moved, it was so graceful even when in this angered state. His eyes catching that long tail, noticing the muscles that lined the thick appendage, giving it a power the slight being didn't seem to have.

Invader Scout and the other two invaders instantly neared their tallest the minute the hybrid turned its attention to Zim, they were prepared for the worst this thing could offer, even if they had to kill it in preparation for if it attacked their leader. Zim felt the movement with his antenna and held his arm out, stopping their advance. Calming the creature down was the first thing to do, otherwise they were going to have a hard time removing him from the ship without someone or even the creature himself being harmed.

Holding his arms out in a non- threatening gesture, Zim spoke calmly but with authority so that the hybrid could hear him speak.

"Can you speak human fish? Or must I treat you like an animal that has no free will? Because I'm more than willing to continue this conversation with myself if you don't in-fact understand me." Zim ended that lamely but he really didn't know what to say, for all he knew the creature didn't know how to speak and he was just talking to a mute mindless angry animal.

When the growl stopped however, Zim gave the creature a skeptical look, either he got bored with growling or he does understand me.

The hybrid flicked his antenna to the side, eyes boring into Zims as he crept closer to the glass, reaching out one webbed hand and placing it on the surface of the tank, looking back at Zim expectantly.

Figuring to humor himself Zim did the same, not really knowing what else to do, he placed his own hand opposite the hybrids. It only took a moment before a steady stream of electricity ripped from the creature and traveled into Zim through where their hands rested on the glass. It hit Zims pack uncomfortably for a second, resisting his legs urge to buckle at the knees, he held firm, although the invaders seemed to travel all the more closer to him. He could feel their anxiety through his antenna as he righted himself, preparing for the worst when all of a sudden, the creature spoke.

Now Zim understood what the electricity was for, it wasn't to harm him, it was to build a connection through the current so the hybrid could speak to him telepathically. Although the current could become deadly if the creature decided to revert back to his angered state, thus ending with Zim gaining a burnt out electrocuted pack and the creature being skewered by his invaders. It didn't look good either way, so Zim would have to choose his words carefully.

But that voice! Zim had never heard such a voice in his entire existence, becoming weak at the knees all over again, but not from the electricity. Zim knew Irkens were susceptible to certain pitches and tones others used while talking, their antenna being able to pick up vibrations too low or high for others to hear. But in reality, Irkens just loved the sound waves that came from octaves merged perfectly together. Music was one of the many things Zim loved, and not just him, Irkens loved music when it came from a species that could create the appropriate pitches. And this creature nearly gave his antenna the joy ride of their lives.

Trying to clear his head so as not to miss what the creature was saying, Zim ultimately brought himself back to reality with a quick shake of his head. He would have all the time in the world to analyze the creatures voice, depending on how well this encounter goes, best to make the most of it now before he decides to kill us for giving him the wrong answer.

"Who are you and where am I?!" the quick snap of that pink tongue against those full lips beheld the rage the creature held within him. The words were harsh and demanding, the tone almost predatorial in nature as the hybrid stared straight on into Zims eyes. There would be no turning back now, thought Zim gravely. Best to get this over with quickly, no need to drag it out.

The words helped in Zims head, but saying them would be a whole other task completely.

"Let's start with who we are," Zim began, although a bit uneasy at releasing his title right away, he settled for just his name. "My name is Zim, and these are the invaders you have been traveling with, I imagine you know them by now correct?" the hybrid flashed his eyes to the three invaders standing in defensive mode behind Zim quickly before locking eyes with the Irken tallest. "Never seen them before in my life." Easily answered but it brought on a whole new situation Zim hadn't even thought about.

"Do you know why you're here, earth child?" a suspicion was brewing in Zims mind but he didn't want to say it just yet, not wanting to confirm his doubts on the matter at hand. He just wanted to see what the creature would say.

The hybrid gave Zim one of the bored-est looks before answering snidely back, "If I knew why I was here, why would I be asking you where I am and who you guys are?" it dripped with acidic sarcasm, but Zim felt a sickening weight drop in his stomach. He didn't know why he was here, he didn't know he was basically sold to the Irken empire for Earths survival.

"And where is here anyway?" curiosity had wormed its way into the creatures words but the hard edge was still present. Zim shrunk a little in his spot, the creature didn't even know he wasn't on his planet anymore. That whole defensive display was probably due to him being in a large metal tank without any windows or sunlight for who knows how long it took to travel from earth back to Irk. Hell anyone would be mad if they found themselves in this situation. But to make matters worse, this being didn't even know he was being used as a pawn.

Hesitating only slightly Zim answered, "You're on planet Irk now, not on Earth anymore." The hybrid looked confused for maybe a fraction of a second before the anger flared up again, the current of electricity hitting Zims pack like a bolt of lightning.

"Why?!" the lash of the word hit Zim harder than the electricity, those lips pulled back in a feral snarl, eyes livid as the tallest tried to concentrate on not passing out.

I'm going to die if I tell him the truth, but he deserves to know, otherwise if I lie to him and he finds out later, I'll be in even deeper trouble.

Silently the Irken cursed the humans who raised this creature, not telling him any of their plans. This was no way to go about good business transactions. However pleased he was that this creature was now in his clutches, he couldn't rid himself of the ache in his stomach when he realized that the humans basically treated this remarkable evolution in science as cattle to be bought and sold.

It just wasn't fair.

Memories of past days started to intrude upon Zims mind, memories of his own life way back when he was still young. They weren't fond memories, and before he could delve into his own subconscious plunder of anger, fear and sadness, he brought his attention to the creature before him. Steeling himself for the answer that was no doubt going to kill him should the hybrid decide to become vicious.

"You were," Zim started slowly, grinding his teeth when the current picked up in intensity again, "You were given to the Irken empire, as a gift, or rather as incentive for a peace treaty to be formed between our two planets. The invaders you traveled with did not steal you from you're planet, you were given to them so that they could give you to the ruler of Irk. I am sorry this information was to be given to you like this, we were under the impression you knew of your predicament, not that you were left in the dark."

Zim watched the creature intensely, not sure how to read the expression that overcame his features. The creature looked like he had turned to stone his face held no emotion, and what color that was held in his pale cheeks seemed to become paler, if that was possible.

Sadness soon became apparent in the human- fishes eyes, but his mouth contorted into a crude sneer, anger taking over as he banged his other free hand now turned into a fist hard against the tank walls. Bubbles flying from his mouth as he started to speak both telepathically and manually. Zim had a hard time understanding all of his words, the incoherent blubbering seemed to be choked back as the hybrids eyes became blood shot. Zim was sure that if there wasn't water in the tank, he would have seen tears in those bright gold eyes.

"You're lying! They, they wouldn't do that to me! They can't just…. You're lying…. There has to be another reason so why, why…. I don't, I'm… your lying, you must be lying, please, p-please just. They wouldn't do this to me… I can't.. I can't believe that they…." He repeated these phrases over and over until it turned into incoherent ramblings. Face a bright shade of red as he lost his momentum from the temper tantrum and rested his head against the glass, shoulders lifting up and down as he dry heaved uncoordinated sobs.

It felt like an eternity later before Those gold eyes that were once bright with intensity seemed to have lost their luster, looking like dying stones of amber muddied with dirt, focusing now on the tallest before him, tone that of a lost child. "It's not true, is it?" That angelic face looked so young in that instant, no longer resembling that of a ferocious wild animal. It astounded Zim how fast this creature changed right before his eyes, yet that feeling in his abdomen wouldn't go away. In fact it grew stronger, threatening to eat him alive if he didn't placate the fear and sadness welling in those strange optic orbs.

A slow nod of his head was all that was needed for the creature to once again lower his eyes, staring blankly at nothing, the current connecting them dying to a low throbbing pulse between their hands.

"If you would like," Zim started, if only to fill the silence so as to not lose their connection, the hybrid looking like he would just end it there, "I can allow you to get into contact with your creators, you may speak with them and ask them your questions to help you understand why they have done this to you."

A spark, if only a small one lit up those eyes as the hybrid looked to Zim once again, "I just, I just don't understand why they would send me, why they would do this. They have thousands of other experiments, so why…. I just need to know." It was spoken slowly, softly, but Zim nodded his assent, turning to his invaders and giving the order for them to bring a connection feed down from the ship and into the hull. They would get into contact with the hybrids creator so the creature could speak to them.

A small part of Zim wondered what the humans would say, but another part of him was ecstatic that the hybrid hadn't killed him. But where would this lead too? Zim had no intention of giving the hybrid back to the humans, as selfish as he was, and all Irkens normally were, Zim found himself wanting the creature to stay on this planet. Maybe knowing that the humans didn't appreciate his existence would influence his want to not return to that galaxy. Zim never wanted a pet before, and he surely wouldn't call this creature a 'pet' he would no less get his hand bitten off if he tried to pet him. No he saw this creature as an intelligent individual, not a slave or a sick side show entertainer that jumped through hoops.

Maybe a house- mate? That seemed like the right term. He would obviously be living with Zim while on this planet, though Zim would have to instill some rules of the roof if he was going to have a guest over.

The room was soon filled with an awkward silence as the invaders left their tallest to go and fetch the intercom, leaving Zim and the hybrid alone with only the ships lights buzzing overhead, and the electrical connection within their hands to fuel the empty space.

It was then that Zim remembered something important that was not discussed moments ago.

Turning his attention back to the hybrid he cleared his voice so those orbs were back on him.

"I seem to have forgotten something child of earth while we were displaying introductions, but do you by chance have a name?"

The hybrid raised one eyebrow slowly, contemplation his answer before giving an indignant huff, turning his now angry eyes away from the emerald being. "Why should I even answer that? I'm just a slave now right? So what's the point of even telling you when there's a good chance I'm going to be re-named anyway? And since I'm practically a gift to this world's tallest, and I'm just takin a guess here but that's you right, then that means I was given to you. I'm just an object, so my name has no real meaning anymore than it did when I was still on earth."

Zim let a hard edge creep into his voice when he spoke again, gaining the creatures full attention with his words, not willing to be mistaken. "You catch on fast little one, but I assure you I am by no means your owner. Although you will be living with me during your stay on this planet, you will be granted equal protection and rights just like every other species that is not of Irken descent. You may come and go from my tower at any time, but I will ask that you be back within reason of nightly hours. The staff at my tower know when to lock the doors, and you will be informed of those hours, so if you stay out past those times, then you're sleeping outside. Transportation will also be awarded to you, and you may go anywhere in the city that you like. If you wish to travel outside of the city however, a guide will have to accompany you." Zim was pleased to see he had actually surprised the hybrid, but kept his face collected. It was clear the hybrid wasn't expecting that kind of answer.

"So no, I will not be giving you a new name because you do not belong to Zim. You are if anything, a guest on my planet, and will be staying with me in my home. You will not have to worry about meals and a suitable living space will be provided. So if you are satisfied with that, I ask again, what is your name?"

Giving Zim one more skeptical look, the hybrid answered; "Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human" Zim looked even more confused when that was said, and he gave the creature a weird look, obviously thinking he was messing with him.

"But the humans would call me Dib for short." Well that made more sense, and Zim smiled with that knowledge.

"Welcome to Irk, Dib-fish"

 **Hope you guys liked chapter 2! Read and review ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

**D.I.B. (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 3: A New Beginning**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim, wish I did, but sadly, I don't.**

The video chat following Dibs arrival to planet Irk took almost 2 and a half hours, where both Dib and Zim learned of how the creation of Dib came about, and how that influenced Dibs current predicament.

As it turns out, Dib was actually an experimental proposal by a wealthy oceanic scientist who owned a large portion of the world's tropical fish reserves. This occurred following a large oil spill that threatened to destroy the oceans wildlife population. It was a major accident, but without the proper funds and help of the scientist the oceans would still be oil infested, and what would have taken 8 years to clean was reduced to 3 with the scientists help.

Her name was Barbara O'Heran, and she had always been fascinated with wild life, especially that of fish. As a gift for her contribution to the oil spill clean- up, the government gave her an industrial sized aquarium as an- add on to her museum of wildlife. She housed some of the most beautiful fish, to the rarest of deep sea dwellers, including several species of coral, plankton, and many off breed species that the world had yet to be introduced too.

Her fascination went to obsession in years to come as her research increased to include that of mythology and the so called 'mermaid' of the oceans. She researched countless articles on the sirens of the sea, the folklore of towns she had frequented, and many colonies or smaller tribal groups on islands she had visited all had something to offer in her search.

This is what ultimately led her into professor Membranes lab with her request of them actually producing a mermaid. If she couldn't find one she figured she'd make one herself, even going so far as to have her own embryonic cells removed so the creature in question would undoubtedly be hers if its creation was a success. No use in using someone else's eggs to creature what most likely couldn't be created.

Professor Membrane in response the scientists request, quite literally, laughed in her face, telling her that such a creature could not, and would not be created in his labs, and he would not so much as put a single one of her eggs in an embryonic chamber to mix with other species since there was no conclusive way for it to work. It was inconceivable, and irrational to put at stake life forms, even unborn ones in order to reproduce a myth. The creature would undoubtedly come out deformed and then would have to be terminated to ensure it didn't suffer.

Barbara wouldn't stand for being turned down, and even provided some of her own research on the chances of survival the creature would have if the right DNA was sequenced into the genetic code. It would take time but she had all the time in the world. And she was very wealthy, so funding wasn't something that she nor the scientists would have an issue with.

Membrane had pleaded with Barbara to re-think her desire, to maybe look into other uses for her cells instead of putting them through experiments to create a myth. But Barbara was stern and eventually, talked Membrane into at least running a few tests to see what sea creatures they could mix with the human genes to create the mermaid.

Of course, this all took time, as membrane had explained to Dib and Zim through the video feed, Barbara had to go to the government after she talked with Membrane about the proposed experiments. Cloning wasn't an issue at this time but there were still strict laws on what could and couldn't be created. Data and schematics needed to be laid out before a group of other renowned scientist, and then once the data was evaluated, they would take it to the bureau of human life and justice to get the permission to make and create the desired life.

Most of the scientist who looked at Barbaras and Professor Membranes work weren't all skeptical about the possibility of life being created, but they were concerned for the creature itself. Many scientists believed that if mermaids did in fact exist at one point during human evolution, they would drastically differ from what we now see in folklore and mythology. They believed the creature would most likely be a deep sea dweller, greyish almost translucent skin to blend in with the murky depths of the sand or dirt at the bottom of the ocean. They would have large, almost blackish eyes, and thick fins like that of a shark or dolphin. They would be hairless, and their skeletal structure would resemble that of a shark, with cartilage instead of bone. Some scientists even went so far as to say that the mermaids would have, much like the giant squid or angler fish that dwelled in the deep, lights that worked like electrical currents running through their bodies to help them maneuver through the water, or to perhaps entrance their prey and to also escape and confuse predators.

The scientists were keen on their beliefs, and the creature to be created would be nothing but a scientific miracle, but would lack the appearance of the mermaid Barbara so hoped to capture. With this argument going on and Barbara's continued fervor, the creation of Dib, or the right to create Dib took three long years of court battles and ethical issues that needed to be cleared up before the OK was given.

Once Membrane got the call that the creature could be created, him and Barbara began work right away, using 8 of the embryos Barbara had donated to begin the trial and error of their samples and the mixtures of DNA.

One year after the OK was granted, a DNA mixture was assembled, ready to be infused within an embryo to house the growing creature. In truth and with a bit of surprise, only 2 eggs were used in the actual testing of the DNA mixture. The first egg died after it was incubated, not having been stored properly when they began. The environment of the water they housed it in was too harsh on a brand new egg, and thus, they used a sharks egg to infuse the embryo to. Much like an incubator, the sharks egg became a protective shell for the starting embryo, and within a few days after incubation the egg started to develop.

It was with some surprise that the creature forming inside the egg developed at the rate that it did. Incubation only lasted 4 and a half months before something was squirming its way out of the thick membranous tissue sharks eggs are known for. Using sharp, deadly teeth, Dib emerged from his egg with the full vigor of life at his tail fins. Propelling around the tank in search of food, behaving, much like a shark after they are first born.

Scientists were baffled at discovering Dib looked the way he did. His multicolored tail drastically differed from the greyish skin they predicted him to have. His head was bald at the time of his birth, the only visible appendages aside from his eyes, nose and mouth were the two soft blue antenna on top of his head. But after some time, jet black hair began to form on his head, but no- where else on his skin. His eyes were also baffling to scientists because he had bright piercing gold eyes with the twists of silver and green going through them, added that with the pupil and sclera Dib looked to be almost human from the head down. He even had nipple, which was contributed to his human genes, but scientists had hypothesized the fish genes would cancel them out.

He was a scientific bafflement, born from an egg but mammal-like in his appearance. They didn't know how to describe what they had, but they had it, and they celebrated that success.

Although some scientists believed that was as far as their accomplishment went considering Dibs behavior after he was born. He was completely capable on his own in the tank they stored him in, and didn't recognize any of the scientists as kin to himself or was aware of his surroundings. He swam aimlessly in his tank, only making an appearance at the top of the water when food came. Some scientists even refused to feed him because he was so violent when he was hungry, nearly taking the hand off of the feeder when they didn't release the food right away.

He acted like a shark, and was at the time, labeled nothing more than a dangerous animal that couldn't be housed with other fish. Fact being, he ate anything that swam, since one of the scientists offered to let him be housed in an aquarium with other fish to see if he identified with any of them. within a day of this, Dib had eaten all of the fish, and cracked the side of the tank when one of the fish dodged an attack while Dib was mid pursuit, he had slammed so hard into the glass, that the scientists grew fearful of the creature somehow escaping. He wasn't smart enough at that time to configure a plan of escape, but he was vicious enough that the fear of him getting out was undesirable.

Barbara on the other hand was ecstatic to have the creature she always wanted, she didn't care if he was a mindless animal or not, the fact was, they had created a live, breathing, living mythological fairytale and he was swimming around in an industrialized swimming pool of Membrane labs.

He was remarkable, and he was also, after another month of mindlessly swimming and eating, intelligent.

That had come to everyone's surprise when one day, out of the blue, Dib had spoken out loud. It was an average day, the scientists were all doing what they usually do, the norm of the surrounding workers set a peaceful atmosphere in the area. One thing did stand out to a few scientists, and they remarked on it when they entered into Dibs portion of the labs. The creature in the tank, the one who usually swam in endless circles, wasn't moving a muscle. Just floating in the pool and watching the scientists, his eyes tracing their movements around the lab as they hurried on with their day. It wasn't that unusual for Dib to sometimes stop and stare, but this was unnerving to some because he wouldn't look more than a quick minute before growing bored and swimming again. This time he had been watching them for over 3 hours, only swaying back and forth in the water to fuel his gills so he could breath.

It was only when one of the scientists stopped to look at Dib did he pop his head out of the water and yell, "Tod!" at the top of his lungs.

The scientist who had stopped to look at Dib was in fact named Tod, and at the yell of his name from the creature in the tank, he promptly passed out.

All the other scientists had stopped dead in their tracks to look at the creature, wondering if they had actually witnessed what their eyes and ears had heard and seen. Another scientist, after getting over the initial shock, ventured over to the tank to help Tod up off the floor. As she leant closer to him Dib called out her name as well, making her freeze mid lift. Her name was Martha, she had only been to Dibs facility maybe twice in the past month, but the fact that he knew her name had her shaking as she turned to stare at the creature looking back at her.

It was then that the other scientists grew into hysterics, paperwork flew everywhere as they got Professor Membrane and Barbara on the phone with urgent news about Dib and their discovery.

As it turned out, Dib was only mimicking what he heard while swimming, since scientists were always running around throughout the day, he had listened to their names and their nicknames for months. But what led Membrane to believe Dib intelligent, was that he knew who everyone was based on their name. He had watched them, studied them, and tracked their movements throughout their day. He knew every persons name that ventured through the labs, just by watching others calling their names and their reception patterns. He even knew who Barbara was, and said her name happily when he locked eyes with her. Not that he knew that by default she was technically his mother, hearing her name from his lips still had her shedding a few tears as they once again celebrated Dibs awareness as an intelligent being.

Learning was the next step in Dibs life, and he excelled rapidly. Within 2 months he could talk, within 4 he could read and write, although he had a hard time gripping pens and pencils with the webbing on his hands and in-between his fingers. Math was almost too easy for him, treating complex equations and formulas like regular arithmetic. Within a year he was playing with complex computers and could recite Shakespeare all at the same time. he could empathize with humans, and could solve every-day normal problems of love and embarrassment. He even understood anger, frustration, and happiness, having experienced all of them during his lesson plans.

Some scientists even had scars after one of Dibs famous tantrums, but they didn't hold it against him. They even said it fuelled them to try harder to gain Dibs trust, and would work longer with him and helped him understand issues when he was having problems. It wasn't long before Dib knew right from wrong, and applied them to every-day situations.

Barbara was probably the happiest during the times Dib would speak to her, wanting to know of her day and where she lived. It became a regular routine for them, talking and socializing, something Dib never wanted when he was born, but craved now that the creatures outside of his tank seemed more interesting to his growing mind. It was during one of their socializing lessons that Barbara explained families, and their social structure, how a mother and a father would come together to form a child. Dib had in-took the knowledge like he always did, but after a few moments of the lesson he asked, "so where did I come from?" it was an easy question, simple really, but Barbara found it the hardest question to answer. He had come from her, but the way he came about was barely legal, also he was an experiment, not her natural child but a bi product of her eggs mixed with genetically altered sea creature DNA. He was a creation made on a selfish whim of a scientists, and as much as Barbara wanted to say he was her child, she couldn't. Sure he was created from her eggs, hell he had her gold eyes and black hair, they even shared the same nose, but Barbara couldn't tell him the truth. If she had said she was his mother, he would have asked where he had come from, and then he would have asked why he was created, and then he would either become upset or confused as to why he didn't live with Barbara as her child instead of living with the scientists. It made Barbara scared for what this intelligent being would think, so frail in the beginnings of new emotions was he, that she feared he would be overcome with most of the negative ones and then never wish to see her again.

So Barbara fed him a snippet of the truth, they had used human DNA to create him and that he was a scientific miracle. Dib seemed placated at first with the answer, asking what kind of aquatic life he was produced with, but on the inside he was scheming. He needed to know more, and something ion him told him Barbara was holding back information.

Later after the scientists retired from their hard days work, Dib hacked into the main lab computer in search on his file. It wasn't long before he found the information he was looking for, but instead of become mad, he felt sad. Sad that Barbara didn't want to admit he was her child. He felt, in the mixture of emotions swirling around inside of him, a sense of grief and unacceptance from his mother. That she somehow didn't want him, that he had disappointed her in some way.

The next day Barbara was in the labs, Dib had confronted her, not being able to bear any longer the suspense of not knowing, not knowing why his own mother didn't want him.

To which this brought on tears from Barbara, and a hasty explanation of she would never be disappointed in him, and she was nervous it would make him upset to know he was create don such selfish whims.

Dib wasn't mad, much to Barbara's surprise, and in fact was relieved that she didn't hate him, hell, he was happy he could say he belonged with the humans, or at least was related to one of them on a biological level, even though it was slight.

It formed a bond between them that seemed inseparable, that was, until the day Barbara died.

Membrane had stopped at this point, looking to Dib who had drawn back from the walls of the tank, face downcast at his past history and his late mother. It brought emotions back to the surface that he didn't want to discuss with anyone, and certainly not with Zim.

Membrane seemed to catch the hint and moved on with his explanation, facing Zim as he continued.

The Irken tallest wanted to ask more about Dibs mother, about her death, but saw Dibs expression and thought better of it, listening instead to Membrane continue to speak. He would ask the scientist of it later when Dib was no longer present.

"After Barbara's death", Membrane continued, Dib who was originally supposed to move in with her in her house that stored the large aquarium, ended up staying in Membrane labs.

Barbara's death took a toll on everyone, including her own family, none of which had a clue she had a mermaid stashed away in a lab that she planned to bring home. And since her death was sudden, she hadn't formed a written will to say who would get Dib in the event that she did die before he was released into her care.

It became another legal struggle Membrane had to deal with when he called members of Barbara's family to see if any of them were willing to take Dib in. Needless to say, none of them wanted Dib, although Membrane withheld the truth of what Dib really was from them, he wanted to see if they would take an experiment with certain needs before explaining what Dib was. He figured if they knew what he was, they would agree to taking him, only to sell him to some high bidder in the black market.

None of Barbara's family wanted Dib, and when the next of Kin claimed Barbara's inheritance, he made it a point to tell Membrane that he wanted Barbara's experiment put down, since he wasn't going to let any more of her money go to feed it or keep it alive anymore. it was a hassle and a waste of time. Membrane had of course refused such request, aghast that the member of Barbra's family would make such an ungodly claim, and promptly hung up on said family member.

When said family member called the court to ask the experiment, (since it was now legally his as right of inheritor of the late Barbara), be put down, the court granted his permission.

This was at the time the invaders came to earth and met with Professor Membrane on the possibility of a peace treaty.

Membrane had gotten the call that very same day from the court that the experiment was to be terminated, and if the request wasn't followed, the court would fine the professor heavily, and the family member would sue Membrane for all he was worth.

Membrane had to make a decision and he had to make it fast. Dibs life was on the line, and even if everyone in Membranes lab testified at trial that Dib was a remarkable experiment, he was just that, an experiment. He wasn't considered human under any of the laws, and his name wasn't registered under Barbara's next of kin.

When the invaders came, Membrane had done the only thing that seemed reasonable at the time, and handed Dib off to them as a gift to the tallest to ensure Earths survival, and Dibs.

Although now Membrane realized he had acted irrationally, he wouldn't have changed his decision. The law wasn't in their favor when it came to Dibs survival, and Membrane believed Dib had a better chance of survival with a species that was so advanced and eclectic in their reign.

This was part of the information Dib didn't know, and he was shocked to hear it coming from the professor now. He was so close to being killed, it didn't stave off the hurt he felt for being given away, but it shined some new light on his current predicament.

Zim seemed at a loss for words hearing this answer, understanding on some level why Dib was brought to him, but now feeling rage seep into his marrow. They would kill this creature without another thought?! He was alive wasn't he? He could speak couldn't he? Surely they would have to listen to him if they brought him before this ignorant family member and he fought for his own life.

Bringing this up to the professor, Zim inquired on why that wasn't done, but Membrane simply replied, "If a monkey can learn sign language, then they too can talk. But if no one can take care of that monkey, or have the funds to support it, then the most likely situation would be that it would get put down. Of course it's different because Dib can speak, and there are more laws against harming animals when they can be put into a sanctuary. But Dib isn't labeled as human, he's labeled experiment (aquatic). And since he's bonded with different aquatic life forms that are considered dangerous to have as pets, he would most likely be killed for safety measures."

Membrane felt is insides quiver in sadness at having to explain it that way, but it was more for Dib to understand than Zims. It was Dibs life on the line, and Membrane had to make the call.

Dib was quiet for most of the explanations, his eyes growing red near the end of Membranes call, seeming more defeated than anything else as he finally said goodbye to the professor, and to Earth, realizing now that this was in fact, his new home.

"That's complete and utter idiocy!" Zim announced when the call line finally went dead. Anger had seeped into his voice at his frustration over how stupid the humans seemed to react when under stress. "They had no way of knowing you'd have any chance of living when they gave you to us! Why, for all they knew, you could have been sold to the slave auction! Or dropped out of the ship when the invaders were returning to planet Irk! For Tallest sake they made a harebrained decision and played up the faith that you would be ok!" Zim paced back and forth in front of the bewildered Dib fish who was watching him with his eyebrows raised.

"Why are you so upset?" Dib finally chimed in through the connection still between their hands. "It's not your life that this happened to, it's mine, so why are you getting angry about it?" Dib was genuinely confused but passed it off as annoyance to Zims outburst.

"How come your **not** angry?!" Zim shot back, voice laced with confusion and exasperation. "They gave you to a hostile species with the hopes that you would survive on a whim! In my opinion that's like signing a death sentence! I'm angry because they didn't think this through properly!"

Truthfully Zim was happy and mad at the same time. For one this creature was given to him and he had no reason to give him back. But on the other hand he felt sorry for Dib. His life was literally at stake and the humans, instead of work out what to do, panicked, and gave him to an invading species to take care of. Dibs life would still be sat stake, but Zim was glad he could maybe make Dibs life a little less stressful without the fear of death hanging over his head.

Dib just gave Zim his blankest stare, a smile threatening to overtake his lips but he held it at bay. He may not have liked his predicament, or had much of a chance of survival among the humans had he stayed on Earth, but watching this alien who barely knew him throw a hissy fit over his mistreatment, had him hoping that maybe, life on this planet wouldn't be so bad after all.

Zim was grumbling to himself when Dib spoke again, a lightness to his tone that wasn't missed on the tallest.

"So… when do we go to your home?"


	4. Chapter 4

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 4: A new Home**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own IZ or any of the characters sadly =( But I do write this story so I say what the characters do lol. ^_^ Hope y'all enjoy this next chapter!**

The construction of Dibs tank took over 6 hours to complete. Not a very long time for Irkens and Vortians working together, but long enough for Dib to get antsy inside of the ship. He didn't like being in enclosed spaces for too long, and since the trip back from Earth took almost 22 hours, he was anxious to get out. Not that Zim could blame him, 22 hours in a tank covered by a thick metal cover with no one speaking to you, Zim was astounded that Dib hadn't tried to break out.

Although he started to question that when he saw small cracks in the glass near the top of the tank. It looked as if Dib had thrown himself at the glass in an attempt to break through. And although the glass was nearly 2 feet thick, large round cracks littered random spots of the walls. Zim had to commend Dib on his strength, though he had to be sure never to leave himself vulnerable to his new housemate if he ever chose to get violent. It would take a massive amount of force to break through such thickness, but Zim believed that if Dib wanted to, he could have easily get through such a barrier.

And to make sure nothing of the sort did happen, Zim made sure to tell the construction crew while they were knocking out parts of the building to make sure the glass was high grade material with plexy fiber material so the glass could curve easily, but also expand slightly when force was applied, easing the pressure of the water and a possible violent guest from breaking it.

Normally the construction of such a tank wouldn't take so long, but Zim wanted to make sure Dib had optimal swimming room, which is what he told the earth- fish when he started complaining that it was taking too long. Zim had his builders tear out two whole floors in his building so the tank could be exceptionally deep. And since Zims tower was built with reinforced steel and a marble granite by-product, the weight of the tank could be easily upheld within the catsle. Although Zim saw it more as a sky- scraper. His tower was the tallest building on Irk, since the tallest tower was also considered to be where the capital was inside the city. A tall tower fort the tallest, quite a nice fit, but Zim would always get lost in the great cavern of a maze that was his home. He rarely ever explored it, and would stick to his normal routine when doing his duties.

But Dibs arrival told him his life was going to get a bit more lively. He didn't know why he thought it, but when that passed through his mind he knew it to be true.

As a precaution however to the tanks large size, Zim had his janitorial staff who also lived in the building, right underneath where Dibs tank was being built, move towards the other side of the area. Even though he was told adamantly that the weight of the tank was nothing to worry about, death by drowning or being crushed had Zim taking the extra precaution anyway. And since Zims room was right above Dibs new room, he didn't have to worry about being crushed. That didn't mean he didn't worry about his staff. Although he may not say it much to them, he did in fact like their company. They were never loud, kept to themselves, and stayed out of his personal area unless things got too crowded for him.

There weren't many but Zim liked them all the same, no matter how rare it was that he said it.

As they waited inside of the ship, Zim would show Dib the progress of the tank via the communication device he had the lead invader bring to him. It resembled an I-Pad from earth, but had way more functions. If properly used right, Zim instructed, just one of those could power multiple vehicles at once. But Zim was naturally simplistic at heart, so he used his for holo- commuting, a different term for face-timing on earth. as he showed Dib through the I-Pad how far along they were, Dib was elated to see that he was actually getting something huge. He even gave them some ideas for circulating air through the tank better when they got it up and running.

The glass, as he looked on, was already in place, it bowed out at the sides per his instructions. Since he was more salt water than fresh water, he swam easiest if there was a current to the water. The bows in the tank allowed for better mobility and a better circulation of the water through his gills. Bubbles, as he had figured out on earth, would always get into his gills and clog them, much like a true salt water fish when exposed to bubbles. They made it harder for them to breath, and would create air pockets inside their dermis layer. Dib could swim in it, but it was uncomfortable to him and he grew out of breath quickly when the bubbles seemed to clog the layers.

Lights were inserted inside the tank as well, and they curved up the walls of the tank, traveling from the bottom to the top at the curved areas. The tank could be illuminated at night, and since they were solar powered, they would glow softly since they were tinted blue. Not too bright to be uncomfortable, but enough so that the illumination resembled moonlight in the water.

Dib was growing more impatient by the minute as he watched his new home being created before his eyes, he wanted to be there already, he wanted out of that ship.

"How deep is it?" Dib found himself asking through their bond, not bothering to stop the connection between himself and the creature before him. He would never say he was afraid of being alone after spending almost 22 hours inside of a dark tank, but he would admit that the creature, or Irken, was somewhat of a comfort to him. He liked talking to him, and he had a better idea of the Irken now. He didn't seem so foreign to him anymore, he didn't seem so alien. Maybe it was because Zim resembled a human in his physique, but his other features drowned out that small characteristic. If anything he looked more like a praying mantis, looking like he was ready to strike at anything.

The grace that body held did not get past Dib as he watched him move. His steps were deliberate, they held a purpose, and he always seemed to know where he was going. Dib could just see it in his eyes, he never took the wrong move, he was a creature of power after all. But Dib could also see Zim viewed himself highly, like he was superior to everyone else in a way. Although that wasn't a bad thing. Dib got the impression that if Zim let his guard down for a minute, others would swoop in to take the tallests position. It was understanding to Dib why the Irken acted the way he did. Plus being connected to Zims mind allowed Dib to catch glimpses of what the Irken was thinking, and more on how he perceived himself.

"Almost 300 feet deep," Zim exclaimed proudly. "I figured you'd want to be able to swim around inside of something that was large, and not cramped. So I made sure there was plenty of room for you. Plus the length is almost as long as one of your football fields, so Zim thinks you should be able to grow and stretch if you need to."

Wow, Dib thought secretly, that was way bigger than what they ever gave him at the lab. At most he was allowed to swim inside of the pool that they cleared of chlorine water and put salt water for him to survive.

"Now about your oxygen supply," Zim started, looking back at Dib. "You said plants would help is this correct?"

"Yeah, it should make it easier for me to breath, plus if you get the kind that can survive in salt water, you wouldn't even need to worry about feeding them, they could live off the water in my tank."

"That makes sense," Zim conceded, thinking about their options and how to make it work, a floating garden could be an option, but how…..

Dib could tell Zim was thinking really hard, he could sense the electricity between them shimmer with Zims brain waves. They hit him pleasantly and he wondered what the invader was thinking about.

Zim sent a quick message to the workers once he had his idea worked out, not wanting to say it out loud because he wanted it to be a surprise for the Dib. But now he had another inquiry to bring up.

"Salt water is what you prefer to live in am I correct?" Zim asked looking back towards the hybrid. He wanted to make sure he made this new living space correctly so there weren't problems later.

"That's what agrees with me most is how I'd say it." Dib answered nonchalantly. "I can live in fresh water, but the bacteria that lives in fresh doesn't bode to well with my anatomy. Algae would always brow in-between my scales and gills, so it's just easier inside salt water." Dib shuddered a little when he remembered the algae problem they were faced with when they first experimented on his living arrangements. That had been a horrible month Dib concluded. "I just don't want to have to continually clean myself." He answered truthfully, and it was clear by the look he was giving that salt water would be a way to go.

Zim gave a nod of understanding, "We'll have to input a large scale filter as well as a generator to create the salt water up to the water pump. Since I don't live near the oceans here on Irk, I couldn't just run a pump straight into the water supply that would take too long to build. So instead, we just connected the pump to the main water source here in the city, and the generator attached to the filter should distribute the amount of salt that goes into the water before it empties into the tank."

Dib was impressed with how well that sounded, and he was even more impressed when they showed him how it worked. All of the mechanics that would control the tank were all wired to the I-Pad Dib saw Zim using. With just the touch of a button, he could now control the salt consistency as well as the amount of water in the tank. And the high grade filter they used would keep his tank clean round the clock so he wouldn't have to worry about cleaning it himself.

Soon Dibs tank was filled and the lights were turned on inside the tank to be sure they worked. The filter was played with a little more but that soon was on as well. Even the internal current maker was brought to life, and as Dib watched he was amazed at what he saw. The tank seemed to take on a life of its own when it was turned on. But the colors of the water were what caught his eye, since one of the workers was walking around the tank to give him a view of everything through the I-Pad, Dib noticed the top of the water had a rainbow effect, much like oil spilt on the ground.

It didn't look goopy like real oil did, the hybrid could see clear through to the bottom of the tank, and when they walked along the glass at the bottom of the tank, Dib noticed that the colors of the water seemed to change. It was blindingly beautiful, and Dib couldn't wait to get there to see it in real, but he just had to ask what was making the color change.

Directing Zim to look at the screen Dib asked, "Why is the water changing color like that?" Zim looked at the screen and pondered the question. "I believe it is because we are using a mixture of salt and fresh water to fill your tank." He said it with a nod of his head but Dib seemed confused by the answer.

"Why would that change the color of the water?" he asked, clearly not understanding Zims answer. "Because Earth- fish, Irks oceans aren't all the same color, and neither is the fresh water. Since our fresh water we are pulling from is purple, we are using pink salt from the pink ocean in another area to help create the tank. The color change you are witnessing is because the two are trying to work together, and the mixture is becoming stable. Your water may continuously be a mix between blue, purple and pink because of it." He said it matter of factly with his hands on his hips, but Dib just looked like someone told him Darth Vader had Christmas on Mars. "Your planets bodies of water are all different colors!?" He exclaimed excitedly through their connection, "That's all sorts of awesome!" His tail gave a happy swish in the water and Zim watched bemused at the Dibs excitement.

"Isn't that normal?" Zim asked after a moment, "Arent all bodies of water different colors on your planet?" His expression was quizzical, the question making Dib laugh through their connection which only seemed to make Zim give an angry pouty huff, but he continued anyway. "On earth all the water in our mass is blue, it can only change if you chemically do something to it. In some areas the plants or the sand can be a different color based on the chemical properties of the water, but all water on earth is generally blue."

"That just sounds boring." Said Zim with a weird expression on his face. "I could never imagine what Irk would look like if we just had one color of water. I honestly think our planet would look weird."  
Dib laughed a little at that, "yeah I could see why it would be weird for you, but for us on earth its normal. Plus it has its own beauty in a way, not like I've ever been outta the lab long enough to see it, but from what I have seen, I think it carries its beauty the way Earth was meant to look."

It was slight, but Zim could have sworn he felt a pang of something go through Dib when he mentioned hardly leaving the lab. The Dib must have lived a sheltered life for many years before coming to Irk. Hell, he didn't think Dib even got a chance to be with the people of Earth besides the scientists.

Zim looked away sadly, he too remembered a life long ago where he wasn't allowed outside, but that was a different story, and Zim didn't like to dwell in the past.

"You know, you are allowed to leave the castle, or building as I would call it, skyscraper or whatever." Zim coughed to the side as he tried to speak through the awkward silence. "You won't be confined to the inside like you were on Earth. You may go and come as you please without worry."

Dib smiled slightly, knowing that he would have more freedom on this planet than on his own, but the fact still remained, and he knew it deep down to his core. He was given away as a gift, a prize, and even though this creature was trying to make his life seem less hopeless than it already was, he knew that he wasn't free. The weight of that fact colored his emotions darkly, he wasn't free, even if he ran he would have no- where to go. He was stuck on this foreign planet, to be kept as a pet almost to the ruler. Sure he'd be pampered pretty and probably spoiled, but he would never be free. And that hit him harder than the betrayal from Earth ever could.

Zim saw Dibs weary expression but didn't understand it, shouldn't he be happy? He was a minute ago, I wonder what changed.

Surely he would be even happier with the newest addition to his tank Zim thought cheerfully. Just then getting the message that the tank was done and fully operational.

"Hey! Dib- Fish! Great news, your tank is done! Am I amazing or am I amazing? Surely you would no doubt be impressed with the building prowess that is the Irken race!" He exclaimed it loudly, boasting as he puffed out his chest in a superior like fashion. It knocked Dib out of his emotional crisis for him to look up quickly and give a smile.

"It's done? Finally! Can we go there now? this ship is starting to get on my nerves." He said it with a smile but inside he was very excited, forgetting his earlier internal argument in favor of wanting to see his new home. Not being able to stand the sight of the ship any longer. 28 hours was long enough, he wanted out, and fast.

Zim gave a pleased smirk, liking it better when the Dib smiled rather than having that weird expression on his face. Although his sharp teeth did have an effect on him, he'd have to remember later to ask Dib if he was a biter. He didn't want to have to worry about his staff if anyone went to say hi to his new housemate and they ended up missing a finger cause Dib was hungry.

The thought made him chuckle and shiver at the same time.

Calling over the lead invader, Zim set up a transport service that would be able to get Dib and himself back to his tower. Although it raised quite a dilemma when they were trying to figure out how to get Dib out of the current tank he was in.

Soon they had a large metal container that slightly resembled a bath tub lowered into the water via hovercraft. Once Dib was inside it and it was filled to the brim with water, the craft lowered to the ground right in front of Zim with the other invaders standing wearily next to their leader. Ready to spring into action if the creature decided to get violent. They had after all witnessed its hostile display shortly after its arrival. In effect it had them standing extra close to Zim when Dib came up to get an un-abrupted view of the tallest. His black hair forming around his face as the water clung to the strands, his antenna twitching slightly to the new area.

Not having the glass or the water as a hindrance to his sight, Dib could see Zim better, not that he couldn't see him before, his view wasn't that displaced, but out in the open seemed to clear up a few things for Dib.

Those eyes for one thing, they were huge, and a deep dark red, almost the color of blood. but upon closer inspection, Dib could see that they shimmered, almost like they were flecked with silver. They reminded him of a puffer fishes eyes, with how well the flecks stood out when the light hit them right. kind of like looking at a whole new galaxy.

His skin, well that wasn't anything new, it was green, as he had become accustomed to seeing on these Irkens for almost 6 hours, it wasn't that strange to him anymore. But his antenna really reinforced the bug like quality he carried. He really did look like a praying mantis, a very tall, large praying mantis that was serious all the time. looking at Zims face, Dib wondered if he had the right muscle features to smile, because his face looked blank, for all intents and purposes.

He had no nose to speak of, and no eyebrows, or ears, and when his mouth was shut, it seemed to become practically invisible, just a small outline of a line that said there was indeed a mouth here. His skin on closer inspection, Dib thought would be scaly but in fact it was very smooth, nothing marred it and there were no imperfections to speak of. Dib wondered if Irkens had pores and could sweat like humans, because their skin didn't even look like it held that function.

Zim in much the same manner was studying Dib like the hybrid was studying him, it was fascinating in a way to be this close to what would really be a marvel of science. It had his antenna clicking excitedly at being so close, his scientific brain, the part of him that used to work as a technician in the military was yelling at him to touch this strange creature. To see what and how it was made, to take its blood and run its DNA, to talk to it, and to see how its insides work. (Not in that creepy pull you apart way and rip your insides out, but in a hook you up to a strange machine and take pictures of your innards type of way).

There were so many things Zim could learn from this creation that it had him on the verge of jumping up and down to know that he would be housing it in his own home. He'd be able to study this creature all he wanted while simultaneously learning about Dib himself.

He didn't let his excitement show though, if Dib saw him acting all jumpy around him he'd surely rip his arm off. Not to mention he probably wouldn't be too happy if Zim whipped out his mini x-ray device and asked to see Dibs skeleton. Especially since they had just met and Dib seemed to still be wary of him.

Meaning when Zim stepped closer to the metal tank to get a better up close look at Dib, the hybrid had hissed at him and shrunk slightly in the water, his eyes dilated enough that the black pupil looked like it took over most of his eye. It reinforced that feral look and had Zim moving back just as quickly.

This really is going to be like training a wild animal, thought Zim wearily, not liking that he couldn't be more than 5 feet from Dib without getting hissed at, but he understood the trepidation. He couldn't move too fast, trust was to be made for this co-habitation to work, and it looked like it was going to take some time to earn it.

But Zim was willing to wait, he too had to re-learn how to live with others again, and the Dib seemed like he'd make excellent company.

25 minutes later-

The ride back to Zims tower was uneventful, taking longer than expected because the cruiser they boarded Dibs makeshift mobility tank in wasn't bolted to the ground and would slosh all over the back of the cruiser if they made turns too sharply.

It had Dib wiggling around uncomfortably during the ride, and Zim at one point had to grab hold of the tank to make sure it didn't tip. Dib didn't hiss that time, but he didn't look too happy with Zim being that close either.

It wasn't till they exited the cruiser did Zim give a sigh of relief, happy to be out of yet another awkward moment with the Dib-fish, since they hadn't talked the whole way to Zims home.

Making their way into the building, it was just a quick ride up in one cramped elevator, and a short hallway that they entered the top of the tank. Since the tank was basically two floors high, but in a massively tall building, there was quite a bit of space between the floors. Of course you could get to it by the secondary door at the bottom of the tank, but you'd have to climb the stairs to get to the top. The door at the top was just easier and exited right where they needed to be in order for Dib to be able to get into the water.

Zim for one was proud of the job his workers did, but looked to Dib expectantly to see his reaction.

Dib had been thankful when the ride to Zims tower was over, he didn't have anything against Zim being so close to his tank, but the predator inside him said otherwise. It didn't trust Zim yet, and even thought the tallest had been nothing but understanding towards him, he still felt the need to assert his discomfort to the alien. And if he got too close, Dib didn't know if he could stop himself from potentially biting his new roommate. A factoid Zim would no doubt ask about later.

But as they made their way towards wat would be his new room, Dib couldn't help but stare in awe at the magnitude of the tower. It really was huge, a symbol that the tallest lived there. It must say something about Zim, because he felt small compared to the building, and when they entered the premises, Dib had to remember to route the direction on where they entered and how they got to the elevator, because truthfully, the building was built so much like a maze, he wouldn't be surprised if he somehow got lost in this cement jungle.

A quick elevator ride later and down a hall, Dibs room stood before them, and when the doors were pushed open by the accompanying invaders, Dib breath almost choked inside his lungs. His gills giving a happy quiver when his heart fluttered in excitement.

It was magnificent, absolutely magnificent, Dib wasn't sure he had ever seen anything so beautiful.

Looking at the large, floating garden above his tank, Dib couldn't seem to take his eyes off of all the plants. The vibrancy of the shrubbery, even the one large tree in the middle of the garden, with its yellow and purple leaves had Dib almost jumping out of the tank. His tail flapping happily as he looked on at the scene before him. There were mixtures of yellows, pinks, blues, greens, even some orange was splashed into the mix as he looked at the exotic flowers. The leaves on some of the plants would vary between bright blue to the deepest shade of red. There was even a pathway in the garden but it was on the opposite end from the tanks mouth. Meaning you had to swim across the tank to get to it.

Which brought Dibs eyes to the top of the water, seeing what looked like very large lily pads scattered around, covering almost the entire area of the front of the tank. These were all different colors as well, but they were mainly green and pink, some with green on the outside and pink in the middle.

Everything looked like it just came out of a home interior design magazine for aliens who were super rich. Even the skylight seemed to be set so perfectly over the garden that they could accurately watch the sun rise and set over Irk.

"Well?" Zim started to ask when Dib just remained quiet, only looking from his spot in the metal tank. "What do you think?"

Zim was slightly worried that Dib wasn't going to like any of it, and cringed at the notion of making the creature upset. But when Dib turned large, happy eyes at the tallest, Zim new that he had made the right decision with the floating garden. Having worked out all the specifics himself when the construction was still being performed.

Dib had excitedly asked about all of the flowers and what their names were, and then asked about the garden itself and how they got it to stay afloat.

Zim was more than happy to oblige, helping the invader bring the tank to the water's edge so Dib could get into his new home. Not wasting anymore time, Dib curled his tail inwards and before the invaders even got a chance to tip him into the water, Dib had shot out like a coiled cobra striking at prey and flew out into the water.

Zim had also explained that the large leaves on the tops of the water would sink at nighttime and go just under the surface of the liquid. Making it an easy bed for Dib to sleep on, and when morning came they would float back onto the surface and hold their form so Dib could continue to lay on them without the fear of pushing them under. And if someone wanted to get to the garden they only need to walk across the surface of the leaves to get there. Not that Zim was willing to try at this point, but if it became an option later he would gladly apply himself to the open invitation.

"I don't know what to say," Said Dib truthfully, "This is more than I could have ever asked for, even at the labs I didn't have anything this nice."

"But it is to your liking yes?" Zim asked hopefully, not fazed at all by giving the Dib a suitable home. He just wanted to make sure this being was comfortable and wouldn't be in distress anymore.

"Yes it's…. it's perfect Zim…..I, I really do like it." and Dib meant it from the bottom of his heart.

If Zim was willing to go through this much trouble to make sure he was OK, then maybe he thought, maybe being here wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to him.

Probably.

 **Until next chapter LOL! Read and review you guys and let me know how you like the story so far ^_^**


	5. Chapter 5

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 5: Minor Annoyances**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim, or the characters, but I swear if I did, I think I'd have more money right now than I actually do and I'd live without the fear of not making a rent payment lol. Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter, I had fun making the last one, and am currently working on drawing up pictures to go along with the story. I'll start posting the pics as my new cover on the fanfiction site. And for every new part of the story I hope to have a new picture. Don't by any means hold me to this, I suck at deadlines and if any of you guys have read my stories, there is usually a large gap between when a chapter is posted and when it was last updated. But I will try to be more proficient since my break is coming up. Again, read and review and I hope you guys like the new chapter ^_^**

Zim read the time his internal clock announced as he awoke in his sleeping chamber, rolling from the pod and disconnecting the cables from his PAK his mind tried to dispel the sleepy haze from his eyes. It was only 04:30 in the morning, a perfect time to peek in at his new housemate. Praying to the tallests before him that the Dib was still asleep so he wouldn't be caught spying. Although it was his house and he could do what he wanted, Zim had figured he should let the creature adapt to his home slowly, without being bothered. It was after all, only a day after his arrival.

Exactly one day after Dib was introduced to his new home, one day of going through and preparing different things Dib could eat, one day of re-doing his schedule so he had optimal time to check in on the hybrid, one day of situating the Dib with an I-Pad of his own so he could control the features of his tank, and one long night of watching the creature cry itself to sleep via the hidden security cameras situated around the room.

For Zim, this state of despair was unnerving for him to watch, but nonetheless he wasn't all too unprepared for it. He knew the creature was suffering even if he didn't outwardly show it, the despair was still present. And it would be a while before the Dib could go to sleep without the hurt that was caused by the humans being present. Even the usual case of homesickness would be there for a while, but Zim made sure to set up a communication system from his tower to the labs on Earth so Dib could speak to his creators whenever he wanted.

Whatever little comforts Zim could provide, he would. They had even teleported Dibs lap top to Zim so the Dib could have his music and his I-Pod. They were weird contraptions Zim thought as he looked them over, knowing what the lap top was since Dib had explained that it was just a larger version of the I-Pad, but his I-Pod was something that was made to only hold music.

Zim had watched in fascination as Dib quickly got the hang of using his new Irken technology in tandem with his own. The new I-Pad allowed him to control the water temperature and the flow of the current. How the tank was maintained and if more water was needed he could add it with the touch of a button. It also controlled the consistency of salt the water was dispensed, since they had to make their own oceanic habitat.

It took only a few moments for Dib to figure out how everything worked, and since it was water proof, Dib could use it while ha swam, and when he was done, he need only put it back on the moveable head stand at the edge of his tank for it to charge.

Dib made the offhand comment while getting used to the device that it was much like a portable super computer, since the lap top he owned didn't have this much storage data, and couldn't control as many things as this device could. It had very useful tools and would make his stay here a lot easier since he could control his environment.

But what really amazed Dib was that he could import his songs from the I-Pod into the I-Pad after moving around some icons and playing with the software's mainframe. He only needed to change a few setting before music began to paly from the speakers on the sides of the moveable head stand and from the I-Pad itself.

Zim had watched in fascination as Dib played around with what was considered advanced technology like it was nothing. The Dib had even hacked Earths web to get music onto the I-Pad, and created a circuit loop so that every time a new song was released on Earth, the hack looped the song straight to his device without him needing to do a thing. This gave Dib an endless stream of songs to sift through; he even hacked the Irken website to download songs and added them to his que.

Making the offhand comment that Irken music sounded more like a rap song that was sung, it carried a melody but broke apart during the music intervals. The language even sounded like a mixture between Turkish and Russian, but had the German undertones that made the song seem angry yet verged on the edge of calm. Like the calm before the storm, it left the listener on the edge of their seat and it was easy to get lost in the rhythm of the music.

Irkens seemed to favor upbeat music, using what sounded like drums and other objects while slow instruments played in the background. It made a wonderful mixture between happy and sad, angry and playful.

After Dib created a similar hack loop to include Irken music from their websites as well, Zim had decided to install a translator for the I-Pad. It wouldn't change anything about the songs and how they were sung, but it would give Dib the option of being able to read what the songs meant. He even installed a beginning learning device for Irken so Dib could practice the language whenever he wanted. Of course Zim would help him since they lived together now, but the tallest got the feeling that Dib was a fast learner, and probably wouldn't need his help with the language portion. The Irken reading and writing portion would probably require more assistance, since it was a little more complicated and had many different characters.

Zim silently moved through the halls of his home, coming upon the familiar route of his new guests room within minutes upon leaving his own. Since Zim had spent a good portion of his night walking to and from their perspective rooms trying to convince himself the Dib would be OK, he had memorized the turns and how many feet apart their doors were separated.

Watching the Dib cry on the monitors was something Zim had never expected to witness, it made him restless to know that someone was feeling that much anguish and sorrow, he had to get up and move, to check in on him. Convincing himself not to while he roamed the halls was another thing altogether.

First for the fact that he believed the Dib would be angry at his presence and tell him to leave, and the second because Dib would certainly inquire as to how Zim knew he was crying, which would lead to the telling of the spy cameras, and then an argument later, Zim would be either shocked, or killed, or both.

Neither seemed like a good argument to deal with so Zim settled with leaving Dib alone for the night. The crying certainly unnerved him, but there was no way for him to heal that wound with being a prying annoyance. He would just have to wait until Dib came to him first, or relieved himself of the hurt by working through it by himself.

All in time, Zim thought as he reached Dib's door, hesitating a moment before letting himself in. No use in knocking if the Dib was still asleep, plus he didn't want to startle the teen, wait… is he a teen? I forgot to ask the professor how old he is.

He looks young, he could be a teenager, but I look young, and I'm over a hundred. But humans age faster than us, so does that mean he will age faster than me? Humans can live up to a hundred if I'm correct, but animals don't live that long. And Dib was created by splicing human and animal genes, so does that cut his life span in half?

Now riddled with more worries, Zim stepped up to the tanks edge, stopping by the I-Pad on its charging device and chuckling to himself. He'd have to remember to ask the Dib about his age later, right now he was concentrating on the amount of songs the young hybrid had accumulated within a day.

The monitor screen read 9,687 songs in the QUE. Each categorized in the system with their own I-Con so minimal searching could be done if Dib wanted a specific type of music. But what also caught his attention was the temperature of the water.

When they had originally set Dib up in his tank, the temperature of the water was set to 560 F. but the Dib had automatically upped the temperature to a higher degree. Then throughout the day the Dib would continuously change the temperature, and since Zim was connected to the houses computer's main frame, when the temp. was changed, he would get a ping alerting him to the change. If water was added, or the current of the water went faster or slower or salt was mixed into the tank, he would get a notice of it happening. It was somewhat annoying, but it would also help in alerting him right away if there was something wrong with the tank. If anything stopped working, he would be the first to know.

Reading the screen, the temp was changed one other time at 02:45 AM, to 860, early enough that Zim was still in sleep mode and explained why he hadn't gotten the notice.

"Isn't that too warm?" Zim muttered to himself as he looked into the pool, expecting to see the Dib under the surface of the water. Looking around the tanks surface at the large leaves, he noticed that most of them had risen to the surface but didn't quite make it up past the surface of the water, leaving them somewhat submerged.

He scanned the area for the Dib and felt a wave of panic settle in his spootch when he didn't spot him right away. Upon closer inspection of the leaves, Zim caught a glimpse of pitch black hair from underneath a leaf. It seems as though Dib had created a makeshift blanket by pulling one of the leaves on top of himself and creating a sort of cocoon out of the plants. His tail peeked out from the plant, flowing in the current of the water easily while the rest of his body, save for his hair, remained hidden.

A gust of wind blew past Zim from the air ducts he had installed in the windows of the skylight. It blew into the plants and across the water, letting Zim actually smell the salty air, making him feel as if he were back on the beaches of Irks private islands. The plants were getting ready to bloom from one of Irks suns just peeking over the horizon. Zim could see it all through the skylight and a sense of calm passed through him as he set his sights on the garden. Irk only had two suns, one smaller than the other but it moved faster, it would be up before the larger sun, and down before the larger sun, but the color display of the two suns coming up in the morning, it was something else entirely.

Forgotten how beautiful they were, had forgotten how nice it was to just forget about the day and watch what true beauty really looked like. Being tallest left little time to ones self, and if they ever were by themselves, they were either surrounded by paperwork or armed guards. Though the past tallests made it a habit of collecting rare and beautiful items to adorn their tower, Zim was never one for material things. He never indulged himself in anything besides his work, and his days before he became tallest were mainly dark, filled with past memories he would work hard to forget. Dwelling in the past wasn't something Zim did, he strived for the future, but once in a while the days of old would creep up on him, rattling the remnants of old chains and despair that once clouded his mind as he fought for survival.

Zim shook himself of the old feelings, realizing he had drifted off while watching the sun rise, he focused his attention back on the pool, and down at the water, glancing at the still sleeping Dib before lowering to the edge.

860 must be warm, but I wonder how warm it is exactly, chancing a small amount of contact, Zim barely brushed his claws over the surface, feeling the water ripple under his skin. It didn't feel very warm, he concluded, but he didn't exactly get a good read. Maybe if I…. he pushed his hand into the water slowly, realizing that the water did indeed feel warmer, but it wasn't unbearably hot. It actually felt nice, inviting almost, that feeling changed when the Dib sprang at him through the water, using the currents to distract his slow advance towards the tallest, he used momentum to jolt himself out of the waters surface and right at Zims hand.

Zim pulled away with a start, his clothes getting wet where the water had splashed up onto him in his quick retreat from the edge, landing on his butt with his hand clenching the frantically pounding organ in his chest.

A fierce growl ripped out of the hostile hybrid as Dibs fins flared out around him, that feral, demonic look was back in force. Zim couldn't repress the shiver of fear that traveled through him at the noise, it echoed through the room menacingly, giving it a hard edge that said, stay away in big bold lettering.

Zim had to force himself not to turn away from the creature, a part of him wanting to give it more room, and another part of him wanting to be defiant and get closer. This was still his house, and even though he felt a tad bit bad that he had been peeking in on his new house mate, he couldn't stop the reflexive annoyance he felt at the creatures normal hostility. They had been doing so well yesterday, albeit they had been preoccupied with getting Dib situated. But they were going to live together, Zim could understand the creatures fears of anyone getting too close, but the Dib wasn't a complete animal, an understanding needed to be made between them, and the growling wasn't rubbing Zim the right way.

It may have been childish, but Zim felt the need to assert his own dominance to the creature before him, he was not going to be growled at like that! So with a grand huff of air, Zim let a growl of his own slip out between his parted lips, revealing his own set of razor sharp teeth, jaw set on edge and a light glare to his eyes.

The Dib didn't need to like him, or even need to trust him right away, but by tallests he was at least going to respect him in his own house.

The growl lasted only a few seconds but it seemed to do the trick. Dibs growl had been completely shut out by Zims, the tallest having the advantage of being a land creature, his voice and pitch rung out higher and deeper in volume. And though Dibs growl wasn't anything to laugh at, Zim definitely had the upper hand in vocals.

Dib was successfully shocked into silence, not expecting such a reaction out of the tallests, Dib wouldn't ever admit it, but he was actually caught off guard by it, his fins and scales smoothing out instantly to the dominant display. It felt almost like he was being scolded, which he had never experienced before.

Now Dib would never say he was spoiled, but living with the scientists, they usually gave him whatever he asked for, most of the time he would be by himself in the pool, so any means to keep him distracted was handed to him without a fight. If he ever got annoyed with anyone, he would simply flare his fins and they would usually leave him alone. He had never been scolded before from his actions, mainly because the scientists looked at him like they would a wild animal. Even though he could talk and hold conversations, they were always weary of his animal instincts.

Though it was true Dib was weary of Zim and didn't like him so close, Dib had figured Zim would behave like the scientists and leave him alone after a display like that. He didn't think Zim would stun him into silence by growling back. It just had never happened to him before, so he really didn't know what to do.

As soon as the growls died off, Zim and Dib were left to stare at each other, neither knowing what to do now that they had settled whatever it was that had just gone on between them. It was weird for Zim, he always had something to say but now, he knew anything that came out of his mouth would probably be an apology. Not that he felt like he needed to apologize, it was the Dibs fault for being so aggressive, but he did sort of, sneak up on him and invade his territory so, that could be worthy of an apology, if he wasn't still mad about being growled at.

He knew he was behaving like a smeet, that he should act like the tallest worthy of ruling Irk that he was, but the Dibs attitude was making him want to act like a stubborn brat, something he himself was shocked to find out about himself. He would never pull this sort of attitude on anyone, not even his staff, and here he was no longer than a day of being around the hybrid and somehow Dib was able to pull it from him.

And here he was, sitting with his arms crossed and head turned up in a pout, staring down his new guest as if daring him to growl again. The Dib wasn't in any better shape, after getting over the initial shock of being growled at he too wore a petulant expression, eyes hardened at the tallest in front of him.

It seemed like the stare- down would last forever until the quiet bitter air seemed to get the better of Zim, and he ended up giving in first.

Zim gave a large huff of air before dropping his arms from his chest and leaning back on his hands, someone was going to have to be the adult around here, and it might as well be me, he thought tiredly, not wanting to fight this early in the morning.

"Look, I'm sorry if I startled you, but I wasn't trying to scare you or infringe on your territory, I was just trying to check up on you and see how the new tank was working out. I'm not sorry about the growl however, your attitude is poor and I would ask that you at least be mindful of that the next time you decide to pull a bad mood on me. You don't have to like me, but I won't let you get away with being hostile for no good reason."

He didn't want to tiptoe around this creature every waking moment, it was hard to tell what would set him off, the attitude wasn't appreciated, so nipping it in the bud was the best way to get it to stop. Everything else seemed like a work in progress, but unless Zim did something that actually pissed the creature off like get into his tank and try to swim with him, he didn't want to be growled at unless it was called for.

"And I'm sorry I woke you," he said offhandedly, realizing it was just going on 5am, "I realize it is sort of early but I had hoped you were still asleep, the water temperature seemed a little high and I wanted to make sure you weren't trying to cook yourself."

He said it with a wave of his hand, trying to dispel the tense atmosphere by acting casual. He really hoped the Dib wouldn't be in a bad mood the rest of the day, that would just put them back at stage one and he really didn't want to go back to the beginning when they had been making such good progress yesterday. He wanted to be able to learn more from Dib, not be the cause of his animosity.

"I'm sorry too I guess," Dib stated sheepishly, realizing now that being threatening and growling at the tallest may not have been his greatest move, but he really wasn't expecting a visit so soon after his arrival. "I was just a little startled, I'm not used to being checked up on, living alone for most of my life has sort of had an effect on me. Even the scientists left me alone for quite some time in-between projects so I got used to not seeing people for days. And plus, I'm sort of a horrible morning person, I really don't like being woken up, so fair warning next time you ripple the water, I almost bit your hand off."

The tension seemed to die from the room and Zim felt it was safe to move closer to the edge, until he heard about the hand thing. It stopped him right from the edge of the tank and had him raising an invisible brow towards the Dib.

"I obviously won't bite you now," Dib said in exasperation rolling his eyes. "But when I'm half asleep and the water ripples, I don't really know what I'm doing. Most of it is response to food, I almost bit several of the scientists hands off when they used to feed me early in the morning. When you rippled the water, the first thought in me was either food, or an intruder."

"So that's how I woke you up," Zim mused, "I was trying to be quiet, but I was truly concerned with the water temperature, it seemed too high to me and I was just checking it out." Dib rolled his shoulders, now leaning on the edge of the pool, his gaze meandering around the area and over Zim before landing on the monitor. "I like it warm, it's just easier for me. I can live in extreme conditions; I was created to be a bottom dweller with up to freezing temperatures, but the warm water makes it easier on my system. I go through a change when the water reaches a certain degree, but my human genes can't keep up with it, and my heart starts to slow down. It's almost like falling asleep, but my body becomes slower while the other part of my genes is trying to take over. My body can't make up its mind and it turns into a tug of war on my system, the warmer water keeps my system equal. My human side can survive and my genetically engineered side isn't trying to take over to survive in a harsh element." The response was simple enough, but Zim was entranced with the information, wanting to see this change but not wanting to put Dibs body into that kind of turmoil.

"What else can you do?" Excitement could be heard in Zims voice as he leaned closer to the hybrid, wanting more information but not wanting to seem like he was prying.

"Well," Dib started, searching for something interesting now that the conversation seemed calmer than when it started, feeling an odd sense of happiness with Zims company. He could never get the same effect with talking to his caregivers back on Earth, they mainly left him alone to his own devices and would visit on occasion when his food storage was low. Since the food dispensed into the water via computer monitor with a timer, Dib never got a lot of attention. This was new to him and a small part of him actually liked it. although he most definitely wasn't going to admit that, not yet anyways.

"I'm venomous if that's something, I have quills under my scales that extend outward when I'm agitated or upset and feel threatened. Much like a lion fish, and I have a set of fins on my back that are hidden, but they come out when the quills sprout, they're colorful and look harmless but they have spines that hold venom inside them too. If something gets too close, the quills don't need to be directly touched to be affective, they can actually shoot out but only work at close range. Just one quill has enough venom to kill three full grown humans, but I can shoot out multiple quills at a time."

Dib gave the information with a wave of his hand, not caring if it made the tallest fear him, although he would admit to himself he would be a bit lonely if Zim decided he didn't want to hang out with him over something that was natural for his body to do.

Quite the contrary Zim seemed to be bouncing in a sort of ecstatic glee over the information, and continued to onslaught the hybrid with more and more questions, becoming fascinated with the knowledge.

"So how old are you anyways?" Zim found himself asking, remembering his earlier thoughts before he had awoken Dib, wanting to know purely for the fact that the Dib may have a short life span. He didn't want this creature to die too soon if he could help it, and since Irkens lived for very long periods of time, he figured if the Dib did have a short life, he could figure out some way to extend it. Zim had to remind himself that that was Dibs choice to make, but he felt it was worth a shot later on if the creature decided he wanted to stick around past his expiration date.

"6" Dib stated calmly, pushing himself out of the water so he could sit on the edge of the tank, running his claws through his scale in a preening like manner, much like a bird would clean their feathers.

"Beg pardon? I thought I heard you say 6," Zim chuckled until he saw Dibs blank expression. "You can't be serious, 6 as in 6 years old? In human years? How is that even remotely possible?"

"Well, for starters I do have animal blood mixed in with human, so my body progressed quicker than the average humans in lieu of development. I'm fully grown on the outside while my body is still mentally developing."

"Wont that mean you're going to grow old faster too? If your body is already fully grown and it only took 6 years, then in another 6 you could be potentially deteriorating in health. You'd only be 12 or 13 years old before you die." Zim felt his insides clench painfully at that idea, he thought surely the Dib would be with him longer than 6 years, maybe finding a way to extend Dibs life would be a good idea to look into after all.

"Not necessarily," Dib interjected. "I may have grown to look like an adult by I am in no way a fully developed individual. The scientists came to the same assumption you did and did multiple tests on my genes. Truth is, I grew to be fully adult in under 4 months of my hatching. Since then my genes and cells have shown no more signs of aging or decreased activity, they've sort of stayed frozen after I reached my final growth spurt. And since I can re-grow any part of my body that is severed or injured badly, the scientists believe this is the reason for my lack of ageing. With the proper care and suitable habitat, the scientists concluded I could live past 100 without showing any signs of deterioration."

"But….. How?" Zim asked stunned, "animals on your planet tend to die sooner than humans, they age faster, do you mean to tell me they believe this effect is reversed because you can regrow you own limbs?"

"No, they believe it is because aquatic animals tend to live longer than land animals. Some turtles can live to be over 300 years old, even whales and other species of fish have lived to be 60 years of age. My genes were spliced by an array of different fish, each including a generally long lifespan. The scientists believe since I'm a marvel of science and have mutated genes, the ageing process would be a little different. Instead of growing really fast and then old really fast, they presume that I will live far past any human or animal in existence because my DNA has an exponential regrowth factor. I can stay and look young on the outside because my skin has the ability to be elastic, meaning I wont shrivel up and look like a wrinkled prune once I get older. I'll look the same and have years under my belt before anything drastic is to happen."

"How does that factor into your brain chemistry? When you start to reach a certain age, will you begin to lose your memory? You're ability to see, to eat properly, to swim? What will affect you once you reach a certain age?" Zim couldn't stop the worry from entering his voice. Sure the Dibs science made sense if he was looking at it from the DNA standpoint, but mentally what would happen? Humans contracted all sorts of diseases, what if Dib caught something he couldn't cure, what if he got some weird fish disease that ate away his scale. There were too many things that could happen simply because he was a mutation from science.

"According to the scientists, my brain activity should be fine, according to their research, I'm immune to many different diseases, and don't contract normal fish sicknesses, so in the grand scheme of things, I should stay relatively normal the older I get."

Zim wanted to stay optimistic, but there were too many things that worried him. The human scientists for one didn't hold much merit to him because he hadn't looked at their findings and conducted the tests. The scientist within himself was begging to look into those results, if only to quell his need to be sure the Dib would live as long as he said he would with no residual after effects to cripple him.

Seeming to have read his mind, or just reading into the worried expression on the Irkens face Dib spoke up. "If you want to see the results, you need only ask Professor Membrane for his work. I'm sure he'd gladly give you the information. He may even give you samples of my DNA so you can run your own tests and see for yourself. The science in this case is sort of new to them, but they knew what they were talking about. If my rate of life was to be that drastically short, I'm sure they would have just kept me on Earth to live out my days quietly in the labs."

Zim nodded his head to this, making a note to himself that he would contact the professor later tonight to get the information.

That's when his internal clock went off, signaling that it was 8am and he had a meeting in 30 minutes to prepare for. Cursing to himself for forgetting the meeting in the first place Zim rose from where he sat, brushing off his uniform before addressing the hybrid who stared at him expectantly.

"It seems as though I have a meeting I must attend, and I will be getting in touch with the professor for that information, I do believe what you told me but I want to double check just to be safe. And if I have the information and a few samples of my own, I can keep track of your progress and evaluate you're cells to see if anything new happens. I do hope you are right about the ageing, I would hate to have to lose a guest so fast since we Irkens live unnaturally long lives to begin with." Chuckling to himself he turned to leave when the Dib called out to him. "Will you be coming back? I mean, how long will the meeting be?"

Zim would almost swear it wasn't there but he could have made a deal on one of his antenna that he heard a bit of worry in Dibs voice. Was he scared he wouldn't come back? Or did he not want him to return?

"The meeting shouldn't be too long, but if I know the captain he will rant and rave all morning if I let him. I'll try to keep it short, I was going to come back to talk with you a little more, unless that's not what you want? I can leave you to yourself the rest of the day if you wish to get settled on your own."

He let the statement hang in the air, giving Dib the option of his return. In truth he was just going to come back after the meeting, but Dibs tone caught him off guard. If he didn't want him to come back he wouldn't.

What came next surprised him though, "No no, I just thought that maybe we could talk more." Dib added hastily, "I didn't get to hear too much about you and well, we are going to be living together, I figured I might as well get to know you too." He shifted his eyes to the side, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Dib didn't want to seem desperate, but he really did like the opportunity to talk with someone, anyone, he was tired of being left by himself. If Zim was willing to be the sociable house mate, Dib was willing to give him all the information he wanted. In return he hoped to learn more about the tallest, but they had a long time to get to know each other.

They were living together after all.

Zim seemed like the kind of person who was never satisfied with the amount of information they had, always searching for more, but to Dib, that was only a minor annoyance he felt he could put up with. So long as Zim continued to socialize with him, Dib felt he could one day trust Zim enough, but for now, a talking companion seemed like the right road to be on.

"I'll be sure to return after the meeting Dib fish." Zim said with a smirk, liking how sociable Dib was proving to be after their first bad morning encounter. So long as he didn't wake the Dib up before his time, Zim figured they could have a good relationship. the first few steps are always rocky, but after the initial storm, it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

Hopefully….


	6. Chapter 6

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 6: Circumstances have Changed**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Merry Christmas you guys! Happy New Year, Merry Greek Orthodox Christmas, and Wow that was a short winter break. Heres a short chapter for you guys while I try and get back to the school life, hopefully next chapter will be up in a few days, so you can figure out whats going to happen next. I'll try to make the next chapter a little longer as well so the plot of the story can be seen a bit easier. For now, read and review!**

The war room was eerily quiet as Zim sat at the head of the table, looking over the tablet in his hands as he scrolled through the images shown on the screen. And just when I thought my day was going good this needed to happen, he murmured to himself, awaiting the arrival from the generals so they could conduct the emergency meeting. The pictures being flipped through showed Zim a more gruesome horror he thought to only exist in war. What he was seeing now had bile rising to the recesses of his mouth.

I hadn't thought they would use such drastic measures, thought Zim grimly. Not wanting to look any more at the innocent blood shed over the pictures. Eyes now dead opened wide for the world to see what pain they had gone through before their demise. It was clearly a message to him, he knew for the fact that he was the one trying to shut down this continually growing organization. Something that was proving harder and harder to do the longer this went on.

The only reason it's this bad must mean were getting closer to their area of operations, they wouldn't have destroyed their cargo otherwise. But still, to kill this many to keep their base a secret, just seems like overkill.

Heaving a deep sigh Zim sat back in his chair, glancing once at the clock as he cracked his neck. He already felt tired just by looking at those pictures, by the end of the meeting he was going to feel completely drained.

The thought of seeing his house mate afterwards cheered him a little, but he would have to cut the conversation with the creature short, knowing that this matter took precedence over anything else right now. He needed to get justice for the ones killed in those pictures, their faces would haunt him otherwise if he put it off for too long.

Could he risk more lives though? This showed that they were willing to do anything to stay hidden, but a large scale killing such as this couldn't be good for business. They would need to get more cargo, and that takes time. This was clearly a scare tactic but one they couldn't use too often.

If they hit another one of their locations, maybe they could get more people out before things went south. Just as he was getting deeper into thought, the door to the war room opened and two of the generals stepped in, they seemed to be in better spirits than their tallest, chatting conversationally before they turned to greet him.

His expression must have spoken volumes, because when they looked at his face, they could see the stress lines and his haggard appearance. Both generals knew when they saw that expression that something had happened, and they slowly sat before Zim, lowering their antenna in recognition of their tallest in a type of mournful greeting. Their good mirth was gone by the time he slid the tablet across the table for them to look at.

No words were spoken while they flipped through the pictures, and Zim could see the toll it was already having on the first general. He was still young compared to the other he came in with, but his expertise in battle was what gained him the higher position. Both of their antenna were vibrating angrily once they finished their collected scrolling, the youngest general, Mika, stood and started to pace the war room, hands clenched into fists as he ranted quietly to himself.

"Sit down Mika, before you burst a blood vessel in that head of yours." Commanded Zim quietly, "no use in getting angry over whats been done. What we have to do now is figure out a way for it to never happen again." Mika lowered into his seat upon the request of his tallest but he was still muttering angrily, his antenna going a mile a minute.

"Well he's too far gone now to talk to," the second general, Ivan, spoke up, looking to Zim with a knowing expression. Once Mika got angry and started muttering, it wasn't good to break him from his emotional trance. At least that's all it was, Mika would sometimes get mad enough to destroy buildings, so at least for now they left him as is.

He may have a great experience with formulating battle plans, but he was never good at keeping his temper in check. And since this latest attempt at infiltrating the slave traders area of operations turned into a slaughter of their latest cargo, they could understand why he was reacting the way he was.

They needed a better plan, something a little more concrete if this was the outcome they would face every time they got a little closer to shutting this organization down.

"Well, what's the plan here? Are we just going to let them get away with this or should we organize another strike?"

"Another strike is out of the question, even if were able to get close enough to save a few, we could still be putting more lives at risk. I don't want to chance that they will slaughter more just to get away." Ivans expression gave away how he felt about that option right after Zim spoke and instantly had a comeback before Zim even had his last word out.

"You really think they'll risk killing that many again?! That's Ludacris at best! What I say we do is we follow the same trail we started with and get closer. We almost had them the last time we made a strike! Why waste that chance?"

"Because General Ivan if you've already forgotten the pictures you just looked at," Zims voice was hard as he spoke, making it clear he wasn't going to allow any rash decisions to be made. "We cannot get this close and then lose it like we just did. We were too sloppy and that's why all of those Irkens were killed. We need to have a better plan, a better strategy. We had the location but now we need the exits the entrances, the inside of the walls, everything about their area we need to know how to get in and out safely and quietly. We can't let them get away with this, but we also can't let our anger cloud our judgement."

Zim knew this wouldn't be easy, he was after all talking to the two hot heads of the military, two very very very hot heads who would rather go to war than think rationally. That's why as tallest, Zim needed to stop the flames before they grew too hot for him to handle.

Mika was quick to explode but easy to settle, his ranting was already simmering down to him just staring very hard at the window. Zim had a brief moment where he thought, if he stares at the window any harder, he's going to be able to crack it. Ivan on the other hand was a slow to start but hard to stop once it got going. He may have reacted calmer to the pictures than Mika had, but on the inside he was already formulating revenge plots against all of those who were involved in this. In Zims opinion, he needed to be the one to calm first. If he was left to sit and boil, he'd probably infiltrate the slave trader's organization himself as a one man army and get himself killed.

"Look," Zim said as he spoke to his old friend, "I'm not happy either and I would probably join you in your rampage against these guys, their animals that have gone rabid and need to be put down, but I'm not going hunting without the right layout and equipment. I don't want to be sporadic and get them one at a time, we need to corral them all in one place, make it so they have no escape, and then make the final strike. That way we don't miss anything and none of them can get away."

Ivan seemed placated by it, but his expression still said, when I get my hands on them, I'll do what I want.

"Anything to include here Mika? maybe a plan that will solve all of our problems and catch these guys without causing another slaughter?" Zim asked, raising his voice up so Mika could hear him. Knowing full well that his tantrum had stopped and they could include him again in the conversation.

Mika was still staring out the window but he spoke with an edge to his voice. "We don't have their next location, but if you want to corral them then we have to think high and low, get inside and see what's going, on. But… that would involve something more than what we are currently working with." He tapered off near the end, looking away to think.

"What do you want to do?" Zim prompted, knowing if Mika wasn't jumping on his newest idea right away, it was probably dangerous, or ill-conceived at best.

"I'm thinking we need to start looking into the possibility of having an insider, an undercover agent who can infiltrate the slave traders unnoticed, and then report back to us on where their location will be. We already know what areas they are picking up cargo using our anonymous source, what if we sent some of our own to these shipment areas and infiltrate them as new recruits who want to make quick cash by working with the traders?"

"You have got to be out of your mind if you think I'm going to allow any of our soldiers or citizens go into the slave trade for information gathering!" Ivan erupted almost immediately when that suggestion was offered. "They could get killed, sold, maimed, scarred for life if they get found out! Not to mention the last time one of their slaves got loose and informed the police, before we could even get to the location that poor Irken was strung up by his antenna with a note carved into his chest after he was tortured endlessly, saying this is for rats who can't obey. And you want to put one of our own through that!?"

"Stop!" Zims voice cut in like a knife, they were never going to make any heady way if arguments kept erupting. Mika's suggestion seemed inconceivable, but not completely crazy either. It had Zim thinking, if they were to get someone on the inside, it would help them out greatly when it came to narrowing down the search. But the problem would be finding someone to put on the inside.

"Who would we ask to accomplish something like this?" Zim asked, interest in his voice. Ivans face looked like it would turn a different shade of purple for how mad he was getting right now. "You actually want to listen to this ungodly idea?! Are we really that desperate that we would put someone's life on the line?!"

"Aren't their lives already on the line General? We are fighting a growing war and we are losing. We can't just wait for a miracle to happen and believe me, I don't think sending someone on the inside is the safest route, but dammit if I'm going to let any other Irkens die for our disorganization. This needs to stop, we will stop it at any means necessary, there are precautions we can take, steps to be measured out before we send anyone into enemy fire. But until we come up with a better idea, I think this is a possibility we have to soon prepare for."

The atmosphere was tense, strained with the anger that seemed to have seeped into the walls of the room and coagulated there. "Let's end here for today, there's nothing more on the matter that we can accomplish without one of us trying to kill the other." Zim heaved a sigh as he said it, showing how tired he was from the meeting and not liking that a plan wasn't formed and ready to use.

"We'll meet again in a few days, if any of you have any better ideas, think of them and bring them to the next meeting, otherwise…. We might find ourselves looking for recruits to become our insiders."

"I need to clear my head," Mika announced as he rose from his seat, "Thank you my tallest." He bowed on his way out, making a quick retreat from the war room.

"I hope you know what you're doing Zim," Ivan said as he too rose from his seat, not leaving yet as he regarded his old friend with a look that spoke volumes between them. "What else can I do Ivan? We have no leads, no information, and no more areas we can search without a possible murder scene happening if we get too close. I may not like it, but Mika's idea may be just what we need. We've never had an insider before and maybe… maybe that's what needs to be done."

"You and I both know who were dealing with though, and I know you know if any of our own get caught, their dead for sure. That guy won't let anyone get close to him or his organization if they so much as smell-like a soldier, undercover or not, they'll die and that's one more body we have to clean up." Ivan said it solemnly but his point was made, and Zim knew that the slave trade leader, an Irken who was once a soldier, would show no mercy to those who got in his way.

"Look at how much he's done already Ivan, we can't let it continue, it needs to stop, and I'd like it if I knew I can count on you once the fighting really breaks out."

"I may be old," Ivan said as he tapped Zim in the shoulder with a gloved hand, "but there's no way I'm missing out on taking down this monstrous enemy." Ivan cracked a smile when Zim looked at him, old power radiating through him as he looked at his war time friend and ally. "You never change do you?" Zim mockingly chastised him, standing to punch Ivan in the arm as he twitched him antenna playfully. "Neither do you old friend, neither do you." Ivan spoke with a fondness in his voice, but the seriousness of the situation wasn't far away from his mind. "We'll think of something." Zim said, almost being able to read his friends mind, but before any words could be spoken, the door to the war room was pushed open to reveal one of the janitorial staff.

"Umm sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but…." "Yes Gidget, what seems to be the problem this time?" Zim asked as he looked at the little service drone, noting she seemed to be nervous as she looked up at him. "Well sir, your guest, one of the generals, he seemed to have gotten lost while he was trying to vacate the tower and well while he was wondering, he sort of, umm, stumbled into your guests new room." She ended quickly, looking down as if she were waiting to be scolded. "I only noticed him walk into the room and thought to search you out to tell you, I didn't think he'd listen to me if I were to tell him he shouldn't have gone in there." Her antenna lowered flat against her head when she saw Zims expression.

"Let's go Ivan, we need to get that idiot before he gets himself killed." Zim nearly shouted as he ran past Gidget, his heart hammered in his chest as he and his friend sprinted down the halls towards Dibs room.

But all Ivan could seem to manage to say as they stopped in front of the Dibs door was, "You have a house guest?"

 **To be continued LOL. Let me know what you guys think ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 7: Circumstances have Changed continued**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Hey sorry you guys, that last chapter just seemed too short and I didn't really explain anything in good detail. So I made this chapter a bit longer and hopefully easier to understand on what's really going on. And I'd also like to give a shout-out to LittleBirdy* who posted a review. You are really close but I have an idea in mind on how I'm going to work it, so you're just going to have to sit back and enjoy. I'd also would like to thank Octopusfan13* and little miss fanfiction lover*, you guys are the best and I love all of your reviews. If any of you have any ideas for how I can make the story better, please don't hesitate to ask, I love constructive criticism. Read and review! ^_^**

Zim slammed open Dibs door with a bang that echoed through the room, half sprinting inside with Ivan fast on his heels. What he saw didn't really surprise him for the possible outcomes he had running through his head, but the situation needed to be dealt with before someone got hurt. At least he's not dead, thought Zim grimly as he slowly walked towards the pool, his eyes fixed on what was happening towards the center of the tank.

Zim heard Ivan gasp by his side when he laid eyes on the situation, "what, what is that?!" the general breathed out. But Zim was more preoccupied with how to help out their fellow general who currently got himself into an eerie predicament.

There, in the middle of the pool stood Mika, the large leaves on top of the water suspending him and keeping him from sinking. His dark blue robes clung to his body, making Zim realize that his friend had somehow managed to get himself sopping wet. He was shivering on top of the leaves, his arms wrapped around his chest in a defensive manner, his red eyes showing how truly scared he was. Beneath him however, was where the real action was happening.

Below the surface of the water, electricity rippled like angry currents in a storm, the intensity of the volts enough to send spurts of water bubbling to the surface, as if the water itself was boiling. "What's causing this Zim? How the hell do we help him?" Ivan asked incredulously, beginning to pace by Zims side as he watched his friend helplessly caught in some sort of electrical malfunction.

Zim ignored his friend in favor of walking closer to the water, noting Mika's eyes kept staring at what he knew lay beneath the surface, the creature probably thinking of different ways to kill his intruder. Although when he reached the side of the pool so he could look down into the water, he definitely didn't expect to see what he was seeing.

Fish, a multitude of them, all swimming for their lives even through the electricity, were scattered throughout the tank. Large small, some of decent size, and an array of colors were whizzing around under the leaves, trying to get away from one of the most dazzling, terrifying creature they had probably ever laid eyes on.

Dib swam with the accuracy of a skilled dancer, his moves gracefully accentuating his body, the flared fins on his back made him look twice as large, and twice as deadly. The pure white of the fins continued to give off that rainbow effect in the light of the tank, while his tail made the colors more pronounced since it contained multiple shades of pinks, purples, greens and blues. But that's not all it did, Zim couldn't hold back his little gasp of awe as he witnessed the back of Dibs tail and his electric blue antenna begin to emit little volts of light that traveled through his body. It light him up in different variations of light that looked almost hypnotic.

The fish who had been busy scrambling around in the tank halted their movements as soon as the lights were emitted. They even seemed to go into a type of stasis, relaxing in the water as Dib easily swam between them, his large fins gliding him through the current of the water and wrapping around his body while he moved. He looked like he was dancing, performing a captivating show for the fish, until he made the first strike.

Zim knew, he knew that Dib preferred to eat live fish, it was healthier for him since then he wouldn't be susceptible to getting sick from a bad fish. He had been schooled by the professor that it wouldn't be good on Dibs digestive system if the fish weren't fresh, or if they had been sitting out for too long before consumption. Therefore it was easier if Dib had a dispensary of living fish that would empty into his tank at certain intervals. And since the fish were kept in a chamber that connected to the tank through a port in the wall, the fish could essentially live in the tank with Dib and were provided the same temperature and current ratios, they were just separate from the whole tank until they were allowed in during Dibs meal times.

But Zim had never witnessed the Dib eat, had never even considered watching him consume food since, first of all that would be slightly creepy if he just randomly asked Dib if he could watch how he consumed food, and secondly, because he just didn't think it would be this captivating.

"He really is a graceful killer," Zim muttered quietly to himself, easily enthralled to be watching such a magnificent display of agility, beauty, grace, and a predatory violence that shook Zim to his very core. Never had he seen such raw, instinctive power in anything that wasn't in a zoo or out in the wild. And here he was living with a creature that just oozed the name killer with his very form and existence.

But, he is also smart, he's also a child, a living being with a will and mind of his own, he who can choose for himself how he will live his life. That be it either as an animal, or as an intelligent life form.

Zim could feel his spine tingling as he watched the last of the fish get eaten off, there was hardly any blood in the water, but Zim could tell it was thanks to the Dibs gills. When he ate, he ingested more of the fishes body, where all of the nutrients were stored. The blood was unneeded, so instead of letting it filter out and fog up the water, Dib would bite into the fish and essentially suck out all of the blood, but he would let it drain into his gullet where it emptied into where water would go when filtered for oxygen. Blood has a certain amount of oxygen already, so by filtering it out, Dib was able to catch his breath while eating and be on the hunt in less than a minute between each fish.

Zim had read up on fish and their biology, it was hard to equate that with the Dib since Dib had more of a human side than fish, Zim figured it would be helpful for him to know at some point in case he needed to understand something or help Dib out in some way should the hybrid ever get sick.

Zim raised his eyes to look at Mika while Dib was busy hunting for more fish, only a slight opportunity before Dib regained himself and noticed Mika on top of the water. Only now there was a problem that Zim became painfully aware of when Mika moved slightly on the leaf.

He had a cut on his leg, and not just a cut, this was a large gash that Zim could make out through the side of his robe, the fabric sticking there where the blood had pooled against it. But now it was draining down his leg and into the water, collecting on top of the surface and dropping down, right in front of where Dib was hunting.

Mika briefly looked at Zim when he was done watching the creature below the surface, only to realize that Zim was looking at his leg. He had forgotten about his cut and looked down to see why Zim was staring at it. When he noticed the blood going into the water and the creature stop at least 25 feet below the leaf he had managed to get on did he realize what was going to happen next.

Dread filled Mika like an overflowing bucket, he needed to get off of that leaf! He needed to get out of the water!

Zim was already a step ahead of him, watching intently as Dib reared his head up to look at the kill spot, his eyes had turned pitch black, probably a sign that the smell of blood was keeping him locked in feeding mode. He wouldn't be aware of the fact that he was aiming to try and eat an Irken, a general no less who was trapped on top of his tank, unable to move for fear of electrocution.

Pak legs extending, Zim was positioned on the ledge of the tank, waiting to strike, resembling the praying mantis even more as his legs moved to the sides, ready to strike. He had to wait, wait for when Dib made his move. If he tried to grab Mika before Dib began to swim, the hybrid would have no problem grabbing Mika mid-air while Zim tried to rescue him. No, he had to wait, but it seemed Mika wasn't on the same page, his fear and uneasiness was causing him to panic and move too much on top of the leaf. It rippled under him, making waves along the surface as he tried to figure out where he could go.

" **For tallest's Sake hold still Mika before you fall in**!" Zim shouted, trying to watch Dib and his friend at the same time, getting ready to move when he realized he probably shouldn't have yelled.

Quicker than a flash Dib was swimming faster than Zim would have believed possible with his fins flared out up towards the surface. His eyes were open all the way as he locked onto the leaf that was making waves above the water. His target helpless in the middle of the tank, Dib opened his mouth just slightly, revealing a row of razor sharp teeth as he descended upwards at an incredible speed.

Mika was in a panic, Ivan was swearing all up in down in Irken as he ran around the sides of the tank, while Zim stayed where he was, waiting. He would only have a second, if he messed up, Mika was probably going to lose an arm. If he didn't, well, at least he could say his day wasn't boring.

It was so fast, yet it felt like slow motion, less than 8 seconds, it took Dib less than 8 seconds to breach the surface of the water from his depth of 25 feet, that had to be a record, Zim thought as he, the moment he saw the water break at the surface, plunged his Pak legs out and encircled Mika in their metal embrace. They coiled around his mid-section like snakes and pulled backwards at break neck speed. Mika was going to have whiplash no doubt about it, but it was a small price to pay for almost getting eaten.

Mika's gaze was transfixed on the creature that propelled out of the water, watching as the water sparkled off of its scales and fins, a rainbow of light dancing before his eyes. Black eyes and sharp teeth would surely haunt his dreams for days on end as he watched the creature just miss his leg by a hairs length, and then plummet back into the water below the surface.

Mika collided with Zim as Zim pulled him back towards land, they rolled several feet away from the tank before Ivan stopped them from colliding with the wall.

The breath had been knocked out of both of them, Zim could feel Mika's frantic breathing, his trembling frame, his sopping wet clothes. Even though Zims breathing seemed just as irregular, he was a bit more in control of himself, since he wasn't the one who almost got eaten.

Ivan helped them bot sit up before Zim recoiled his Pak legs back into his Pak, Making sure Mika was able to breathe again before he wacked him over the head.

"Ow! Hey!, what the hell was that for?!" Mika yelled, looking at Zim incredulously. "You stupid idiot," Zim said in a tone that sounded like a mother berating her child for running into traffic. "Were you even paying attention to your surroundings when you waltzed you're dumb uncomprehending ass in here, huh? I get that you were unhappy with the meeting and you wanted to wander around to blow off steam, but for tallest's sake do it with your damn eyes open and watch where your going! You walked right into this room without a second thought and probably fell into the pool didn't you!?" Zim didn't have to wait long before he saw the blush rise to Mika's cheeks, a sheer sign that Zim was right. It wasn't the first time that this had happened to Mika, everyone was used to it by now, but this was ridiculous. He was going to get himself killed if he didn't watch what he was doing. He would get so caught up in his thoughts that he would just let his body wonder, and he let himself wonder straight into the lion's den during feeding time.

Mika was smart, smart enough that he would stand out in a room full of intellectuals. He had brilliant strategies, and made many an escape route when there didn't seem to be any hope, but when he got hung up on a thought, well, it was like a wall came down over him and he couldn't see anyone else, he was in his own world.

At least now he didn't walk into stranger's homes anymore when he was done with work. He had enough mind to hire a driver who would pick him up from work and drive him home, then pick him up in the morning and drive him to work. After the 6th time of walking into the wrong house and going to the wrong job, Mika was pressured, (by Zim because he was the one who fixed everything Mika broke), to do something about his problem or Zim was going to shut him down in the bowls of his tower where he could roam endlessly until he learned his lesson.

Mika simply looked abashed as he sat huddled in his wet clothes before Zim, Ivan off to the side still breathing heavily from his mini panic attack he had almost a minute ago. Zim looked at Mika expectantly, waiting for the other to admit to his faults when he heard Ivan hiss.

Zim flashed Ivan a glare, thinking Ivan was trying to stick up for Mika when he noticed Ivan wasn't looking at them.

Turning back around to face out towards the pool, Zim watched as, now bright gold eyes, peered at them from above the water. Black hair forming around a pale face, Dib seemed at a loss, not comprehending why there were 3 Irkens having an argument in his room.

Dib recognized Zim right away, but he didn't know who the other two were, or why the one in purple robes was hissing at him. They were in his room after all, but he stayed quiet, waiting for Zim. He learned the last time he growled or hissed that it wouldn't have the desired effect like it did on the humans. Besides, the one in blue robes that was all wet seemed more freaked out than any of them, running behind Zim the minute those red eyes landed on him. They both looked like Zim, but the one in blue robes had dull red eyes, they didn't shimmer like Zims did when the light hit them. They didn't have the silver specks flecked through them that gave them a starry effect. The one in purple robes looked like Zim but more in stature, he held himself like Zim but didn't have the same air of authority. Zim walked with a bolstering confidence that would have anyone backing down to. Plus, his eyes were purple, they matched his robes, it was a nice color, but they didn't stand out compared to Zim.

Zim stood quickly and punched Ivan in the arm, hissing at him to shut up while he waved me over to the side of the pool, giving me the go ahead to come closer while the other two Irkens seemed to do a backpedal for the door.

"Z-Zim what are you doing?!" screeched the one in blue, somewhat hiding behind the one in purple as he tried to make the decision of grabbing his friend and running or staying to yell at Zim. "That things dangerous! Why the hell do you have it in your home?!" Dib felt a slight sting at that but ignored it when Zim huffed a laugh at his friend. "It's not the first time someone tried to kill you Mika, and it definitely won't be the last." He turned to give his friend a mocking smile as he neared the edge of my tank, drawing closer to me, "Besides, we've already established this whole incident was your fault considering you don't watch where you're going. Now both of you, since the dramatics have passed, front and center, I'd like to introduce you to my new house mate. He's here granted on a basis of asylum after being transported from his home planet Earth, and will be staying with me for the duration of his time on planet Irk under my care."

Zim said it with a wave of his hand, coaxing his acquaintances to come closer as he gave the introductions. The one in blue was still hiding, but the one in purple had at least stopped hissing and didn't look like he was going to jump out and rip someone's head off. They both inched closer to Zim, keeping a safe distance from the edge, but close enough to be within arms-reach of their tallest.

"Mika, Ivan, I'd like to introduce you to Dib, Dib these are my friends and acting generals of Irks military forces, Mika Heshval, and Ivan Iszara.

Dib had already pulled himself up onto the ledge of the tank and out of the water, curving his body around his tail so he could face the two new comers. He wasn't close enough to Zim to feel discomfort at the moment, but he was close enough that if he reached his arm out, he could almost feel the black silk of the robes the Irken was wearing.

Fins already pulled down and scales lying flat, Dib regarded the two Irkens with an inquisitive stare, trying to figure out what Zim had meant when he told the one in blue, Mika, that it wasn't the first time someone tried to kill him. Did he try to kill him at some point? He couldn't remember ever even seeing this person before.

But it was feeding time a moment ago, Dib remembered, and Mika was definitely wet, with a bleeding leg, oh crap.

Dib could feel his face become hot as embarrassment took over, did he attack Mika? Is that why he's scared of me?

Dib looked at Zim with a worried expression, "Did I, Did I try and eat him or something? Was he in the tank while I was eating?"

Ivan and Mika both gasped in unison at hearing the terrifying creature speak, their draws collectively dropping as Zim just nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "It's his own fault for walking in here, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and walked straight into the pool. You were eating and didn't know, it's not your fault, so don't let his idiocy make you feel bad for something you naturally do."

Dib felt a little better at Zims words, but still felt guilt roiling around in his stomach. He looked over at the two with a worried stare, noticing Mika was no longer hiding, and Ivan was just staring at him like he had two heads.

"I'm uh, sorry if I scared you," Dib said as he addressed Mika who took a hesitant step towards him, becoming aware of how close he really was to these beings and feeling the predator inside of him rear its head. He wanted distance from them, he wanted to back away but he forced himself to be calm, he didn't need to make enemies on his second day of being a resident of Irk. He had just attacked someone, not that he knew mind you, but all the same, he didn't want them to fear him, not by much anyway.

"I already told you it's not your fault", Zim seemed to ground out in exasperation, running his hand through his antenna to settle them from vibrating. He didn't need Dib to feel bad for Mika's own mistakes, the hybrid already felt out of place and depressed, he didn't need to be reinforced by it because someone couldn't keep their head out of the clouds. "Yeah but…" Dib bit his lip when it looked like Zim would go on a rant when Mika chimed in.

"No, no, Zim's right it's completely my fault!" Mika rushed out, antenna up at attention as he regarded Dib in a new light. "Please miss, you don't have to worry about it, I'm useless when I think too much and seemed to have gotten myself into a bad predicament. But it is most definitely not your fault."

Dib and Zim both cocked their heads to the side and repeated in unison, "Miss?"

"Why yes, a lady such as you should never have to apologize for a man's wrongdoing. I am deeply moved that I received the chance to meet such a fine creature from a distant planet, and hope that you enjoy your stay here on Irk." Mika seemed to become a different person when he was convinced that the being before him wasn't planning on eating him, and was, in fact, a lovely, intelligent being.

Dibs blush grew till it was all the way down his neck while Zim couldn't seem to hold back his laughter. He thinks I'm a girl! Dib thought, looking away in embarrassment when Ivan just shook his head at Mika.

"What did I say?" Mika asked, looking lost while his friends laughed at his expense. "Y-you do realize," Zim tried to wheeze out past his growing laughter, watching Dib try and hide his face in his long hair, "That the lady you are referring to is actually a guy, right?"

Now there was a color change no one was expecting. Mikas face seemed to erupt into a deep purple blush that almost covered his whole head, his antenna which were up at attention fell down like limp noodles that touched his shoulders. He looked like a kicked puppy, Zims laughter didn't seem to help and Ivan just shook his head.

"I gotta go clear my head!" Mika yelled, and then he was off, out the door faster than anyone had seen him run in years.

"Please tell me you don't have any more surprises here in the tower Zim, I'd hate to have to pull him outta another close call." Ivan said when Zims laughter died down. "No, only Dib and the janitorial staff live in the tower, not including myself, he shouldn't run into any more danger unless he goes into Gidgets room. That girl does not know when to stop playing with broken robots." He said it with a shudder, shaking his head as he regarded Dib with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry you had to meet my friends like this, I would have preferred you met them on your own time, in a better setting, when you were more comfortable being around others, but…. Well, things never seem to go the way we plan, and I'm sorry if this has distressed you."

Ivan gave Zim a dumbfounded look, his eyes enlarging just slightly as he took in his friends words. In all his life of knowing Zim, through when they were in the war together, marooned on deserted planets, and at the door of death himself, he never once heard Zim apologize for anything, even if the wrong was his own fault. He was a mediator, a truth seeker, but never one to apologize.

And here he gave it to this creature as if it were the easiest thing in the world. He smiled a little smile as he watched the conversation with a keen eye, looks like Zim found something he really wants to keep all to himself. Ivan thought, watching Dib smile at Zim in reassurance that he wasn't affected by the little incursion, even saying that he wouldn't mind if they wanted to visit him again, but only if he wasn't feeding or in a bad mood. Sometimes his electrical current had a mind of its own when it came to emotions.

If he was too overwhelmed, his body would generate enough electricity to power a large tower, much like Zims, and if he were to be touched, that person would get the shock of their lives.

Zim looked relieved with that incident over and done with, bidding a farewell to Ivan as the general left Zim and the hybrid to their own devices. Going off instead to search for Mika and take his aloof carcass home, that was enough crazy for one day.

As soon as Ivan left Zim heaved a sigh and lowered himself onto the floor in front of Dib who watched him with a sharp eye.

"What a day," Zim whined, leaning against the I-Pad stand while he cracked his neck and back, taking a moment to relax his mind from all of the events that had occurred.

"It's only 3 in the afternoon," Dib corrected, watching Zim get comfy on the floor and feeling safe enough around the Irken to allow his own body to relax, stretching his tail out so he could run his fingers through his scales, cleaning them while he watched Zim out of the corner of his eye.

"I realize what time it is, but I've had a pretty rough afternoon and with all the excitement going on on top of what our meeting was about, I feel completely drained." Zim was surprised at himself actually, he never use to complain about work, or about how much he had to do, he liked it when he lost track of time with what he was doing. Maybe his age was finally catching up to him, or maybe he needed a vacation. Being around death and destruction for too long can drive a man insane, that and piles of work that needed to be sifted through, Zim just wanted to take a nap, to drift off for a moment before he had to get back to reality. He would take that vacation, when the slave traders were caught and dealt with and the world was back in working order. Head even bring Dib along so the hybrid could see all of Irk with him, he had an idea for how to get him to move around without having to transport a big metal tub, but he'd figure out the specifics later.

"You wanna talk about it?" Dib asked, feigning interest when he felt a lull in the conversation, he didn't know why, but he felt better whenever he talked to Zim, and moved to look at him when he didn't answer right away.

"Zim?" Dib asked again, looking at the Irken who had his eyes closed and beck resting on the I-Pad stand.

"Did you seriously fall asleep?" Dib asked out loud, waiting for Zim to open his eyes and yell gotcha! But when he didn't, Dib felt something prickle at his skin. This was the first time anyone ever slept in front of him, not that the scientists didn't sometimes doze off on their desks during a boring day at work, but he was never in the company of anyone who would dare get this close to him and fall asleep.

Here Zim was, the tallest of the Irken world, the leader, and he fell asleep in front of what could be considered a hostile creature.

The thought made Dib giddy. I wonder how deep of a sleeper he is, Dib said to himself, reaching for Zims robes before he could think better of his idea. Grabbing a fistful of the material and pulling until Zim was lying flat on the floor, his pack making a little think sound when he landed too hard.

A deep sleeper, Dib mused, crawling closer to the being in front of him, taking his chance to get a good up-close and personal look at the Irken within his reach.

He wasn't going to do anything, he was just going to look, he didn't want to hurt this creature who took him in and gave him a home, he wasn't an animal. But it was the thought that Zim actually fell asleep in front of him, knowing he could potentially kill him that had Dib awe struck. He either trusts me not to kill him or he's really really tired, Dib guessed, getting closer to Zim and staring at his face, moving his eyes down the lithe form to watch the slow rise and fall of his chest.

I wonder, I wonder if his skin is smooth, it certainly looks like it is, but it could be prickly, or rubbery, or… something. Dib started, his mind beginning to take in the opportunity to examine his house mate while he was asleep. Dib had always loved to touch things, to take things apart, to see how they worked. And although he would never dream of cutting anything open, he would find fascination in seeing scans taken of animals and of people to see how their insides worked. Dib wondered if he could somehow get Zim to get him a scan of the Irken body so Dib could see how they worked. To learn more about these alien creatures.

But for now, Dib mustered up enough courage to decide he was going to allow contact between him and Zim, just to state his curiosity on whether his skin was soft.

That's all I'm going to do, Dib reasoned with himself, reaching out with a shaky hand to initiate first contact.

 **Ok, it's a little past midnight and I can't keep my eyes open for too much longer. I probably ended this one too fast to, but I'll make sure to continue with my explanations in the next chapter. I still have a lot to go over but all in all, that was a fun little ride. Read and review and if you guys have any ideas you wanna throw at me, give em a whorl and send them my way. ^_^ Thanks for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 8: Circumstances have Changed continued**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Here's the next chapter, I seriously tried to get this done for Valentine's Day, but ya know with school and all that, I couldn't find the time to update. I'm still trying to get school work done, but I figured I should take a quick break to write the update before I forget what I wanted to say. Any who, read and review you guys! ^_^**

Dib reached a slow, hesitant webbed hand out towards the Irken tallest laying on the cool tile floor, his black silk robes billowed out around him, rubbing against Dibs scales as the hybrid moved closer to his target. Contact was finally initiated when a webbed claw wrapped around a long, gloved hand.

Dib held his breath while he lightly gripped the thin appendage, moving it away from the body and closer to his face to inspect it, wondering if removing the glove would be going too far. Biting his lip and deciding to test his luck, Dib easily slipped the tight glove from its position, revealing underneath the smooth green hand of the sleeping Irken. Inspecting the hand closer, the hybrid concluded that the hand, while looked large when covered by the glove, was actually quite small. And since the Irken only had 4 fingers instead of 5 like a human, the fingers were longer, thinner, but the ends formed into sharp claws. Placing the green hand on top of his own he measured that the width of the hand was slightly smaller than his own, but the length of the fingers including the claws were longer.

Dib moved the fingers around in his hold, trying to figure out the bone structure but being extremely careful not to cut the skin with his own claws. He didn't want the Irken to wake up and find himself injured, that just wouldn't be good. He followed the bone structure up to the wrist, stopping to flex the hand, watching the bones move under the skin and paying close attention to the veins that popped onto the surface when he flexed the appendage a certain way.

Moving the sleeve of the robe up the rest of the arm was revealed, leaving Dib to wonder now about hair. Did he have any, and if he did, would it be soft, or prickly. Keeping one hand on the hand, Dib used his other hand to gently run a finger along the surface of the arm, reveling in the smooth feel of the skin. It was cold, not freezing, but not the usual warm temperature a humans would be. It left him to wonder if Irkens had a lower body temperature, were they cold blooded? Their unique insect like appearance made him think that was true, plus their world was constantly revolving around two suns, the hotter atmosphere made for a cooler body temp, since their body now relied on heat. Their bodies adapted to their planet, the outcome seemed remarkable, considering Dib was now realizing Zim didn't have any hair on his body.

Wait… no.. he did have hair, on a closer inspection of the arm, bringing it right up towards his face, Dib could see tiny, very very tiny barely there hairs that stood raised out on top of the skin, they were clear in color, but very soft, hardly even noticeable when pressure was applied to the skin. This gave Zim more of an insect like quality, because bugs like butterflies, ants, and flies, as well as other species had tiny hair around their legs and arms, more meant for feeling their surroundings, or for tasting the air and what they were touching. Dib didn't think Zim had the ability to taste with his arm or hands, but he believed the hair to be a relic of the past. Something his species at one time used, but now had learned to adapt and no longer needed it to survive.

Looking back down at the hand still in his grasp, Dib checked the fingers this time, smiling at realizing Zim had fingerprints much like a human. Although his greatly differed from a humans, considering his looked like circles that looped through each other in a cylindrical pattern. Humans had several types of fingerprints, they had loops, whorls and arches, and these categories had sub categories that followed a distinct pattern. Zims finger prints looked like human fingerprints on crack, they were amazing, and very cool to look at, they didn't follow any sort of pattern, they each looked different, some even looked like, for better lack of a definition, like Chinese symbols. The police on this planet must use a different means of identification, Dib thought to himself, I don't think their database would be able to hold all of the different fingerprints Zims species probably has.

Looking back down to Zims face and seeing he was still asleep, Dib moved over to look at the other hand, gently setting down the first and grabbing the other, being careful not to wake the tallest. He examined the other hand in much the same manner, and even rolled up that sleeve to look at his arms and check for the very fine hair, to which he found on close inspection. Done with the arms and hands, Dib looked back up towards Zims face, really looking at it now that he didn't have to worry about those red optics looking back at him. Dib didn't understand why he was self- conscious around people, he should be used to being stared at, but it still unnerved him when he could feel eyes on him for too long, he would become restless and uncomfortable. Since Zim eyes were closed, he didn't feel uncomfortable openly staring at him, moving closer so he was just above his head.

The bone structure was the first thing to catch Dibs eye, noticing that his cheek bones were higher, giving him a more angular look, but in an elegant way. The structure was more meant for, in Dibs own guessing ability, to compensate for the larger eyes. Unlike a human, the optical orbs inside of a skull weren't all that big, their bones providing space for other human attributes like the nose, and ears. Since Zim didn't have ears or a nose to speak of, the optic orbs were bigger, granting a higher level of sight, his red eyes taking up a good portion of his face. The back of his head was rounded, and curved down towards his neck which was, surprisingly thin. How do you hear? Dib wondered to himself, soon noticing the divots on top of Zims head where two long, black antenna protruded from. They twitched whenever Dib moved, picking up the sounds Dib purposefully made to gauge their reactions. "So these are what he uses to hear." Dib mumbled aloud, unconsciously reaching for one when he felt a strong grip tighten around his wrist, stopping his hand mere inches away from the antenna he was trying to grab.

Dib had to hold back a shout when his wrist was grabbed, that small green hand ten times stronger than it looked. He was caught, frozen in fear of the thought of being scolded, Dib looked down to meet Zim's stern red eyed gaze. The Irken didn't look upset, just a bit perplexed before he spoke.

"Those are sensitive, so don't touch them unless you want me to really get upset." No sooner did he say it did Zim close his eyes again and release Dibs hand, seemingly going back to sleep right in front of the dumbfounded hybrid.

"Wait a minute," Dib chimed in as he watched Zim get comfy against the floor, "You were awake this whole time? Why the heck were you letting me touch you, why didn't you say anything!?" Dib was flabbergasted, was Zim really that nonchalant about his own safety? Sure Dib wasn't going to hurt him, but still… Zim really had to make better choices for himself. "I could have killed you ya know." Dib mumbled, done with touching the Irken for now, he could learn about their bodies and all their attributes later, in a book, that didn't wake up and scare the living daylights out of you.

"If I thought you were going to kill me," Zim turned to look at the hybrid that had moved away from him, obviously pouting about being caught, "I wouldn't have allowed myself to rest here in your area, I'm trying to show you my trust so you're not constantly wary of me. And it takes a lot more than you think to put an Irken to sleep." Zim scoffed, "I was merely resting my eyes and thinking about the day, it's more like a mini hiatus, I can close my eyes and drift while my body relaxes, but I'm never fully asleep."

Zim said all of this while still laying on his back, though he was starting to get uncomfortable since his pack was pushing his body up into a weird position. Deciding it was time to get up, Zim lifted his body into the sitting position, looking towards the Dib and noticing he was back at the edge of the tank, slowly putting his tail in the water. "I'm not mad about you examining my hand, but you know, you did startle me a bit." Zim chuckled, "I would have allowed you to look at them while I was awake had you just asked."

Dib just looked away blushing, he couldn't face the tallest now, he was completely embarrassed about being caught, and Zim was just treating it as if it were a joke. "You hardly know me." Dib mumbled unhappily, crossing his arms over his thin chest and looking down at the waters rippling surface from the way his tail moved to quake the water.

"While it's true that I don't know much about you personally, I'm normally a pretty good judge of character. And besides, isn't living together supposed to help us learn about each other? I know you probably see this new home as a prison more than a safe haven, but I'm trying to make it so that you're at least a little comfortable around here." Zim huffed when Dib didn't turn to look at him, he never liked talking to peoples back, it meant they weren't paying attention or trying to avoid him. Well that was enough of that.

Getting up slowly from the floor, Zim easily made his way over to the hybrid, sitting right up close to him but far enough away so he had his own personal bubble. That's when Dib looked up, startled to see Zim sitting next to him, his legs crossed and arms in his lap, the Irken looking at him expectantly.

"What?" Dib snapped, not trying to be rude for the way his question came out, he was just still really embarrassed, his face hadn't lost its blush from earlier when Zim caught him. The water was helping to calm him down but now that Zim was sitting next to him, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he got. He was still trying to force his body not to move away from Zim, but with the combination of his embarrassment and the closeness of the tallest to himself, he just wanted to get underneath one of those large leaves atop his tank and hide.

"Well," Zim chided in exasperation, "Since I let you see my hands, let me see yours." Zim knew he was testing his luck, and he had to make a conscious effort not to laugh at the Dibs expression, it was positively priceless. "Its only fair." Zim added when it looked like Dib was gonna make a getaway for the water.

Zim shivered when the hybrid shot him a small glare, but he knew there wasn't any malice behind it, more like a stubborn child who didn't want to share a toy. A small smile tweaked his mouth when Dib made an angry huff and thrust his hand forward, face turned away as he spoke. "Only for a minute," he warned, not really thinking he could stand more contact than that at the moment.

His body tensed considerably when Zim easily grabbed his arm, he could feel the robes touching his scales as he picked up the slight sound of movement, meaning Zim had gotten closer. He bit his lip when those claws moved over his fingers, trying to repress a shiver, (unsuccessfully at that) when those claws moved over a sensitive section of his webbing.

He could hardly believe he was letting Zim examine his hand, on the flipside however, it was sort of his own fault he got caught examining Zim without his permission and so this was kind of like his punishment.

Zim was much in the same metaphorical boat when Dib put his hand forward, not believing the hybrid would actually agree, he was almost certain that Dib was going to jump straight into the water and swim away. Now though, he could hardly contain his smile as he grabbed that outstretched arm, running his fingers down over the exposed skin and straight to his hands. The webbing was soft, and slightly stretchy, it folded easily to allow the fingers free rein of movement. Zim could hardly help himself when he turned over the hand to look at the fingertips, being cautious of the claws that sprouted from the tips.

There on the pads of the fingers were the fingerprints, Zim had been dying to see a humans fingerprints since he learned he had them on his own skin. Now, looking at the hybrids, he started to compare them to his own, realizing there was a drastic difference between the sets. The hybrids hand was also larger than his own, though his own four fingers might have been a hairs length longer than the Dibs, if Zim balled his hand into a fist, the Dibs would be able to close his own hand around it.

It wasn't very surprising since Dib had a good foot of height on him, his own body looked tiny compared to the toned muscle the Dib-fish sported. Though Zim knew his own body had many advantages, he wasn't at all helpless, it was just fascinating to see the differences between themselves now that he was up-close and personal.

Although being this close to the hybrid, as happy as Zim was, he couldn't help but notice the slight tremors that would go through Dib whenever he moved his hand down that strangely soft skin. He's obviously still afraid of me, Zim thought to himself, feeling his smile wilt a little, his good mirth passing by faster when he noticed the Dib wasn't even looking at him, just facing the water in that hunched position.

"Am I really distressing you that much?" Zim asked quietly, though since there weren't any other noises aside from the background noise the building and tank provided, it seemed to startle Dib all the more. He almost jumped out of his skin when Zim spoke, not expecting the Irken to address him. He had to concentrate to remember what the tallest had said, finally looking at Zim, noticing that the Irken was still holding onto his hand, though it was loose, so if Dib wanted to, he could easily take his hand away.

Dib bit his lip before he answered, having to really think about it. Was he distressed? No, not really, in fact if he were telling the truth, he was quite comfortable he in the silence, just sitting with Zim. Once he got over his embarrassment over the whole situation, and the fact that Zim was examining his hand, he didn't feel worried or annoyed or anything.

"No," Dib finally answered, "I'm not distressed, it's just, I've never had anyone well, get this close to me before. Everyone aside from my mom kept their distance from me, and I've never had a friend, so casual contact like this is new. I guess I just need to get used to it." Dib said it while giving Zim a small smile, knowing at this point he wasn't too wary of the Irken tallest. It didn't surprise him too much at this point that he had grown used to Zim, but he figured if he was going to be living with him, he didn't want to live in fear either.

"So…." Zim started slowly, looking hopeful, "This isn't bothering you? Not a bit? And if not, can I continue?" Dib rolled his eyes on how excited Zim seemed to get but nodded nonetheless, allowing Zim to do the same thing Dib had done to him and inspect both of his hands. When that was done, then it was Dibs turn again.

"Will you let me see your teeth?" Dib asked on a whim, figuring it was now or never Since Zim seemed to be in a sharing type of mood. Zim cocked his head to the side one of his antenna twitching a little but his face remained neutral.

"My teeth? Why would you want to see those? I would have thought for sure you were going to ask me to see my PAK, but my teeth? Really?" Zim looked skeptical but Dib just nodded vigorously, clearly saying he wanted to see his teeth.

"Fine Fine, you can see my amazing teeth, just don't try to pull any out ok?" Dibs breakneck nodding was all he got before he lowered down again onto his back, feeling the tile cool on his head as he opened his mouth wide enough for Dib to see inside.

Dib crouched down low, scooting closer to Zims head as that near invisible mouth was opened, revealing two perfect rows of teeth. They weren't sharp, pointy, or even weirdly shaped; they actually looked like human teeth for how normal they were. Dib really wasn't expecting it, looking a tad bit disappointed before taking notice of the long, thin red tongue that seemed to be moving like a snake inside Zims mouth. Well that's cool, thought Dib, I bet he can grab things with it, it looks so flexible.

"You have pretty normal teeth if you ask me, but that tongue is cool, is it flexible? Can you grab stuff with it?" Dib asked, looking into Zims eyes while he waited for his answers, remembering now how awesome those ruby optics were as well.

Zim feigned a hurt tone of voice as he addressed Dib, "were my teeth not amazing enough for you?" Dib cocked an eyebrow at the tone Zim used, watching the tongue moving behind the teeth in that slithering type of motion. "You're teeth look like human teeth in all honesty, sure their cool because you're an alien to me, a new species, but the similarities are uncanny." Zim got a wicked expression on his face, curling his lips up in an amused smile, "want me to make them more interesting?"

"Wha.." before Dib could say anything, Zims mouth opened wider than before, bringing attention to his gums before something truly amazing yet terrifying started to happen.

Dib stared opened mouthed in awe as he watched a second set of teeth, sharp, pointy teeth mind you, start to descend from the front of the gums, the first row of human looking teeth moving backwards to allow the second set a firm placement. They dropped down slowly so Dib could watch where the teeth originated from, and where the first set moved to once the second set was in place.

Dib hadn't realized that he had grabbed Zims head and moved it off of the ground to be closer to his face, setting him on his lap while he watched Zims mouth turn from small nubby human teeth to sharp, razor blade carnivore teeth before his very eyes.

"Holy shit Zim, that's amazing!" Dib exclaimed, studying the gums closer now that he could see them better. Realizing that, a humans teeth, including his own razor sharp shark teeth, stood at the front of the gums. With Zims teeth, the set Dib saw first, they actually sat a little ways off from the front of the gums, so when the second row moved into place, the first set only had to move backwards slightly. There was a divot on the gums at the roof of Zims mouth that the first set of teeth pressed into when they were moved back. Dib guessed it was probably so that if Zim was biting into something, his first set of teeth weren't in the way and wouldn't get damaged. The second set of teeth sat right at the front of the gums, looking menacingly like a row of razors blade fangs just waiting to take a bite out of something.

"That's what you get for doubting the amazingness that is my mouth." Zim said proudly, although with a slight lisp now that his larger, more deadly teeth were out, they seemed to garble his words and made it harder for him to talk.

"Well, I gotta hand it to ya, no one on earth has a second row of teeth like yours, hell, humans don't even have a second set of teeth to begin with! I would ask why you don't leave them like that all the time, but I guess because of your first set of teeth, it seems to be making your speech go a little wonky."

Dib chuckled as he watched Zim roll his eyes before Zim sat back up, turning to show Dib how he retracted the teeth before speaking. "In a way you are correct, Irkens have always had a secondary row of teeth, but they were really only used for battle or to ward off predators. We don't keep them extended because, yes, they do mess with our speech, but also because their meant to threaten and scare. In a social setting for an Irken, if you extend your secondary set of teeth, it means you are angered or afraid or upset. But for soldiers, they almost always have their secondary teeth extended, because they are always on guard for a fight. Soldiers must assume the area they stand, or wherever they go, is a hostile environment. To put their teeth away would mean they let their guard down, they must keep them extended so other Irkens, hostile or not, will know that they mean to fight should anything happen.

Dib seemed to soak in the knowledge like a sponge, getting more comfortable with Zim while he listened to the Irken speak about his race. He wanted to learn more, to know more about this strange planet, and Zim seemed to love to talk, going into great detail about his planet and the history of Irk itself.

Dib had asked all sorts of questions while they spent time together, learning that the Irken race was indeed evolved from an insectoid type of species. The bugs they had evolved from were still around, but they lived deep within the layers of the planet, and only moved around at night or in unpopulated areas if they needed to relocate during the day. They were also very very rare, and no longer existed in certain parts of the world anymore. Many scientists of Irk believed that the only reason evolution occurred, was because the population on one end of the planet was so scarce and dying so quickly, that if they didn't evolve, they weren't going to survive. Thus the Irken race was brought into existence.

Dib had also inquired about Zims PAK and what it was used for, not at all expecting Zim to say that it was his life support, or that it was also connected to his tower and the main computer, meaning if Zim thought of something, or wanted to control something, he could do it just by using his PAK.

"That's kind of cool and freaky at the same time," Dib breathed out, not being able to take his mind off of the machinery now that he knew what it could do. "But do you really need it to keep you alive? Are you dying? Or are all PAKs like that?" Dib couldn't seem to stop himself from asking all those questions, though the prospect of Zim dying put a bad taste in his mouth.

"Essentially, we Irkens didn't need the PAKs for survival, but we also didn't have that long of a lifespan in the beginning. We aged very fast and died young for centuries before we created the technology to live longer than a few years. Once it was created, it continued to grow, until Irkens were seemingly immortal. The PAKs keep us alive but at a cost. Since our own organic bodies were only meant to live up to 4 years, if the PAK is removed, and not replaced within 10 minutes, we will die. Our outer skin cells will begin to wither and flake while our intestines and internal organs start to shut down. It's a painful process, and not one Irkens would wish to go through."

Zim said it all with a hint of sadness to his voice, his eyes distant as he relayed the information to Dib, the hybrid looked stunned to know this level of information.

"So… if your PAK is removed," Dib stated slowly, "You'll die within ten minutes? That's just insane." Dib didn't even want to think about what kind of fear these Irkens lived in, to know your life could end so painfully if someone just decided to take your life support of, it had him shivering. "Don't you worry that someone could come and rip it off?" Dib asked despite himself, blurting out the question before he could really think about his choice of words.

Zim chuckled a little before answering, trying to ease the tense atmosphere into a more calmer, happier setting they had when they first started. "Irkens don't actually worry about their PAKs being pulled off because the process is very difficult if not near impossible to do. Since our PAKs are actually connected to our spines through cables in our backs, the PAKs outer rim fuses to the skin naturally as an extra protectant factor. Though we can detach our PAKs willingly, the disconnection from it is only for a short amount of time to allow repairs or if a new PAK is needed. Information from the older PAK will be imputed into the newer version, and then reconnected back to the host. Forcibly tearing a PAK from someone can only be done with a great deal of force. Even an Irken jumping from this very building and hitting the ground at top speeds, the PAK still wouldn't detach."

When Zim was done Dib could only stare in awe at the Irken. Their technology seemed amazing, their race had advanced so quickly, seeing how their ancestors still lived below the surface of their world, untouched by time. Dib couldn't imagine ever existing in a time where you didn't live past age four, he was kind of glad he was born partly human, even they didn't have it so rough when they first started out, living to the age of 27 or 30 before they started to die. That would probably explain why humans hadn't come up with the technology yet to live for long amounts of time, sure there were anti-ageing treatments and medication humans could take to enhance their probability of living longer. But Zims species only lived for several years, their push for survival was far greater than humanities, so their research and advancements makes sense in being ten times better than Earths.

"Thanks for sharing so much of your history with me," Dib said when there was a lull in the conversation, making for compatible silence. "I really appreciate being able to learn about you, I don't think I've ever had an in-depth conversation with anyone before." A small amount of pink rose to Dibs cheeks in saying that, but he didn't let it bother him too much. He was almost starting to understand what having a friend was like, but he didn't want to think that just yet, fearing that maybe Zim didn't think of him as a friend just yet. Only time could tell Dib guessed.

"I only shared Irks history with you, not my own," Zim said with a smile. "If you want to know about me specifically, I'll only tell you once we've hung out more. I'm a very private person mind you, I am the Irken leader after all, but if you don't mind sharing your company with me from time to time, I can tell you a little about myself, while you tell me a little about yourself."

Zim didn't seem uncomfortable giving Dib the chance to actually learn about him, he couldn't place his finger on it, but he just felt calm around the Dib creature, like he could talk to him for days and not care how much time had passed.

Dib could understand that, there were things he wanted to keep private about himself as well, but he was optimistic to see that Zim was at least allowing himself to open up to him, and also letting Dib set the pace for what things they would talk about concerning their past history. They were still getting to know each other, a friendship was taking root, and the more time they spent together, the more they would eventually open up to each other.

Smiling broader now, Dib laughed for the first time since his move from earth. It was small, and barely audible, sounding more like a hiccup, but it was a laugh all the same. And Dib couldn't stop himself from thinking, even as he said goodnight to Zim and crawled into his leaves, descending the surface of his tank while wrapped in their warm fuzzy cocoon of soft green, did the words, "I can't wait." Echo in his head.

 **Thanks for reading you guys! I sort of went off on a tangent in this chapter and didn't hit on all the things I wanted too, but most of the information I wanted to say is here. I hope it doesn't sound too wordy, I'm trying to make it so that Zim and Dib slowly start to open up to each other while also becoming closer. Its hard because I'm not very good at fluff, but I'm still learning ^_^ anyway, if you guys have any tips or ideas, don't hesitate to give them to me, I'm always open to seeing the story from a new angle. Read and Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 9: Mayhem in The Tower**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **I know I'm a bit behind in my updates so now that I have some time, heres the newest chapter! I'm gonna try to get a few done in the next couple of days just to try and catch up. Hope you guys like them, I'm making the next few a little happy crazy before things start to get serious. Read and Review you guys! ^_^**

About two weeks passed for the hybrid in his new home, often being visited by Zim whenever he had a free moment to spare. Dib was already getting more and more comfortable around the Irken tallest, talking freely to him whenever they were together, he had even taken Zims advice in meeting some of the staff that worked and lived in the tower. Zim figured it would be better Dib met them now than have an awkward moment later if the staff accidentally stumbled into the room.

Zim was constantly busy Dib realized, the life of a ruler was never easy Dib guessed, although he did find himself getting, dare he say it, lonely? He guessed it was because he was so used to the humans never really paying attention to him, that he didn't realize until he started having daily conversations with Zim did his need for attention become apparent. He was starting to become accustomed to the visits from Zim that when the Irken didn't show up he would get snappy or agitated easily if one of the janitors came by to say hi. Zim would always come by at the end of the day to apologize for not being over earlier, but he would have to cut that visit short as well, needing to recharge in order to get ready for the next day.

And in truth, Zim **had** been busy, even he had realized it when the day's just seemed to pass him by. The mornings were over too fast for his licking, one moment it would be early sunrise, then what felt like only a few hours later and all of a sudden the suns were setting in the distance, illuminating his office room with their warm orange glow.

It was crazy and hectic, but before he had a roommate, Zim would prefer his days to go this fast. He realized this was probably why he didn't get much of a life outside of his tower, or why he found himself scrambling more than ever to get his work done to see his new acquaintance. The hybrid had been nothing but patient with him for the last two weeks while Zim tried to make a plan of attack for the slave traders, meeting with Ivan and Mika to go over the details of who they wanted to be the insider for the next raid. They just couldn't ever seem to come to a decision over who to ask, they knew a normal civilian wouldn't work, they didn't have any experience with tactical maneuvers or being a spy, or having any kind of self-defense techniques if they got into a sticky situation. Zim wanted to ask the military for their men, but Ivan had shot him down at every turn, claiming that they would be found out faster than any normal civilian, the way army men held themselves and carried their weight, they wouldn't last long in that kind of situation.

Mika had been the one to suggest using one of their invaders, they were trained to infiltrate unknown areas and be able to research how to get into their society, find the best way to break the whole infrastructure down, and get out in time to watch the fireworks. Zim wasn't opposed to the idea of using an invader, seeing as how they would be more equipped to handle those types of situations easily with their training, but he worried about the possibilities of them being found out because of the nature of their invader ways.

Zim knew for a fact that invaders were not ones to back down easily, they would most likely give themselves away in a flash if they disagreed with something that was asked of them. Volatile emotions were not something that could be used in a quiet operation, Zim suffered from his own attitude problems from being an invader all those years ago. Feeling as if you were at the top of the world with all the power you had, being able to crush whole societies on your own would make anyone cocky and vain. But Zim had to change that about himself when he became tallest, although that had been years later, it would be hard to get an invader to just stop being themselves for any length of time to put them through what could most likely be a degrading situation.

It had him re-thinking what they would be asking this invader to do should they agree to go in and investigate for them. Simple recon could work if they didn't want the invader to give themselves away easily, but they wanted someone to be able to get into the middle rings of the operation, figure out who controlled what and where they were getting their shipments from. They needed someone level minded to help them out, someone who could sneak in unnoticed and become a part of the operation without any difficulties. Invaders in general were most of the time small in stature, but their attitudes would give them away should they become mouthy. That or their PAK's could give them away if the traders decided to hack them for information.

There were ways around this happening, but it wasn't something that the invaders would agree too, being that it would be for them to erase the fact that they were invaders. All of their progress, their livelihood, their stats on the planets they conquered, it would all be gone. And that just wasn't something anyone would willingly give away. Sure the invaders would probably be the best choice for the mission, heck they've invaded planets and conquered civilizations without the indigenous species even knowing what was happening, but for this mission, they would be right at the forefront of the criminal world. They would no doubt be required to perform tasks that most invaders would define as degrading to their status. Undercover or not, if an invader was told to bow to a superior, or to force irkens into cages to help the traders sell them off to buyers, the invaders would most likely flip their lids and try to destroy the whole operation on their own. That would then lead to said invader being tortured, killed, or forced into the slave collection and sold off then for a very high price because _they were an_ _ **invader**_. It would be a complete and utter downfall of the operation should any of those situations arise, and Zim just wasn't looking forward to it.

If they chose anyone, they would have to test their psychology, their aptitude and mental stressor influences. What would set them off would need to be initiated into the tests, and then they would need to figure out how to control it. Irkens were normally very good about keeping their emotions in check, when civil liberties are involved however, it would be understandable for them to react violently or protectively when seeing their fellow Irkens being treated as nothing more than name brand items up for sale.

Zim seemed to feel a new type of stress building in the back of his head when he realized there was a whole new bundle of problems he would have to deal with, and those problems didn't even exist yet. It was taxing to his body, his legs already felt heavy as he walked down the halls of his tower, running over the notes for the meeting. Mika and Ivan had organized a list of recruits they thought would be applicable to their mission, leaving the list to Zim once the meeting was over so he could sift through their files.

All in all, today was going to be a long, long, long day.

Zim stopped just a few doors down from Dibs room, thinking over the fact that he did indeed have a long day, and if he wanted to visit the hybrid before either of them needed to go through a sleep cycle, it would be best to do it now.

Fixing his robes a little he straightened himself up to stand at his full height, reaching out to open the door. He was caught off guard as the door flew open right in his face, knocking him back as something collided with his chest forcefully.

"ACHHH!" Zim coughed as he was thrown into the wall, the hard object now sitting in his lap as Zim tried to regain his breath, eyes dizzy he tried to focus on what had just been flung at him.

There was a flurry of noise as someone ran towards him, but Zim was now focusing on what was in his lap, his eyes adjusting, he looked down at the small robot looking up at him. The large blue eyes were transfixed with his gaze before they blinked once and turned to the side, a small pink tongue lolled from the robots mouth as it began to roll around in his lap. The small robotic hands lifted his robes and began wrapping them around itself before it covered its face with it.

Then, all of a sudden, as if a switch had been flicked, the robot let out an inhuman scream, its arms flailing in the air as it began yelling, "Them lights went out! I'm blind!" Zim covered his antenna from the screm, backing up further into the wall as he tried to use it as leverage to get up, ultimately allowing the robot to roll from his robes and back onto the floor in a heap.

"Yay I can see!" the robot yelled, running in a circle in the middle of the floor as Zim tried to slow down his convulsing heart, almost willing it to stay inside of his chest after the damn thing tried to escape his body.

"M-My tallest! Are you ok! Gidget was the one who had run out towards the doors when she saw that the robot was attempting to leave, reaching to restrain the little android when Zim locked his fierce eyes with her. It was rare for Zim to ever get upset with anything the small janitorial drone did, the tallest understood that Gidget had a mind of her own when it came to her inventions and weird contraptions. This wasn't the first time Zim got hit by one of her enhanced toys, and usually he gave her a firm scolding before letting her go on her way. So long as nothing burned down the tower and she didn't let anything hurt the other staff, he let her have her fun. But this time Zim was a little more than peeved, of course it was probably due to the fact that he was pissed and stressed at the same time over trying to get a leg up on their investigations, but he really shouldn't have tried to take it out on her.

"What it the meaning of this!? What is this contraption and why is it loose in my tower!?" Zim growled out, rubbing his sore chest from where the robot had hit him. His back was tingling as well, probably getting ready to bruise from the force of impact Zim had with the wall. Not like Zim couldn't take a hit, but getting the surprise of a lifetime and the wind knocked out of you early in the morning was not something Zim was prepared for.

Gidget seemed to be shacking in her leather boots, fearing the worst from her tallest before a voice behind her spoke up, ultimately saving her green ass from the scolding of a lifetime.

"Zim!" Dib yelled from inside his room, half hanging out of his tank with a screwdriver pointed out towards the two irkens in the hall. "Grab that robot and bring him back here, I'm not done with him yet!"

Zim stared incredulously for a few minutes before a smile broke out across his face at seeing his housemate, a little relieved to find that the Dib seemed to have found himself an activity. Although the activity he was engrossed in wasn't something Zim himself believed he would enjoy.

"I got him Dib," Gidget chimed in before scuttling back into the room, Zim trailing slowly behind her to see what it was that the two had been up to for the better part of the morning. Electrical wires, schematics, charts, tools, metal parts, and a vast collection of hard drive memory cards littered the outside floor of Dibs upper tank, collected in piles upon piles throughout the room. Zim had to watch where he stepped to avoid breaking anything while he walked towards the hybrid and Gidget.

The robot was squirming and giggling within Gidgets hold, laughing as he tried to roll out of her grip before Dib grabbed him and started to fiddle with the circuit compactor on his back, coming out of the water to wrap his long tail around the smaller body, freeing his hands to work freely on the fanatic machine.

"Sorry he got loose on you Zim, we were trying to keep him in the room before he caused too much damage, I haven't been able to fix his activity drive so he just goes nuts every once in a while for no reason at all." Dib chuckled as he looked up from his work, glad he finally had time to talk to Zim, although keeping the robot under control was proving hard to do. He kept squirming in his grip so Dib wasn't very capable of getting to the problems he needed to take care of. The thought of turning him off had passed through his mind, but since turning him on had been such a chore for him and Gidget, Dib didn't want to risk the robot never turning back on again. This was the first of 6 robots him and Gidget had been working on to finally turn on and stay on.

The task of keeping the robot up and running was another chore altogether, figuring out that the behavioral protocols that are normally built into the robots programing were completely fried. They wouldn't work at all and every time they kept replacing the circuitry system, the robots activity protocol would get worked up during one of his crazy moments and completely fry the behavior system. It was a merry go round of ups and downs with the robots mood changes and destruction patterns. One moment the thing would be completing an order, and the next he would be on the ceiling trying to take out the light. One example of the crazy behavior, one Dib wasn't very fond of by any means, was when they gave the robot the order to pick up the I-pad, and change a setting on the music. They were trying to figure out if his computerized brain would be able to understand and learn the settings on the new machinery without any glitches. The robot took one look at the I-pad and did exactly what he was told, performing the task flawlessly, right before… he tried to eat the whole I-pad.

Dib and Gidget had to practically force the I-Pad from his mouth, the side corner of the mini computer now cracked and dented. Dib was furious with this and when he asked the robot why he did it, the robot had said, "I thought it was a taco." Then he picked up a drill and began hitting himself in the head with it.

It was altogether hilarious, disturbing, and borderline insane the way the robot behaved, and Dib absolutely loved it!

This was better than any computer set up or gaming system the humans ever gave him to mess with, he was enthused to finally have an actual android to work with who could communicate with him on a real level. Even though the robot was filled with flaws and dents from where he hit himself with random objects while laughing, it was still more than anything Dib could have asked for from the humans. And now he had something to fill his time with while Zim was out during his meetings.

Zim looked down at the robot in Dibs grasp, noting how flexible Dibs tale was before addressing the real issue at hand. "Why are you working on a defective SIR unit? And why may I ask is it running around loose in my tower?" Zims voice wasn't as vexed as it was when he was confronting Gidget in the hall, but he was curious as to why Dib seemed to want a robot. If he really wanted something like this android, Zim could easily get him one from the invader academy, he certainly didn't need to make it himself.

"A SIR unit, what's that?" looking up from his work Dib noticed Zims perplexed expression to what he was doing.

Zim opened his mouth to answer but Gidget beat him to it. her high pitched voice reaching Dib over the bundle of wires she was trying to untangle.

"A SIR unit is an information gathering unit used by invaders while on planets ready for takeover. The android is meant to help invaders gather intel and work as coordinate devices for GPS tracking while also providing protection to the Invader should the Irken become incapacitated."

Zim glanced at Gidget with a raised brow, but Gidget just shrugged and went back to work. "I used to be a weapons specialist ya know, I not only built these things, we made other weapons as well to help out on missions. My job was mainly in nukes, but the occasional SIR unit would pop up with a small dysfunction and we would repair them." Gidget rolled her shoulders as she assessed the work before her, glancing back up at her tallest with a small smile. "These SIR units aren't easily fixable, they've been completely destroyed and dismantled, the fun part about this is being able to put one together from scratch. Plus it gives Dib here something to do during the day."

Picking up a soldering gun Gidget went back to melding the pieces of iron together on another dis-guarded SIR piece. Turning back to Dib Zim watched him work for a moment before having to ask. "wouldn't you rather have one that works? I mean I get that you want something to do during the day, but if you want an android I can get you one easily." Zim said it while sitting on the floor in front of the hybrid, watching those fingers work with the materials before him like he had worked on machines for years. Dib didn't miss a beat to respond, picking up another tool, not even looking at Zim when he answered.

"Its not about being able to get one that works, I kind of figured that out on my own. Its more about taking the time to make it yourself, I don't want one that's designed to work in a specific way, I want one that I built with my own two hands, that works on the fact that I took the time and energy to put it together, to make sure that all the pieces are in order and it functions. Sure there are some holes to the progress, but it's unlike any of the other SIR unit. It's….unique, you know? And I'm proud that I was able to create it."

Dib smiled a genuine smile at Zim, though the tallest was a bit confused by his answer, figuring he would want something brand new, not beat up and in scrapes. But on the other hand, Dib himself was a unique creature, it took the humans years before they even got permission to create him, and even then the science was so unfamiliar to them that they weren't even sure it would work. But now, here before him was a creation unlike any other, and he wanted to make something unique on his own. In a way it made sense, but Zim still shook his head in exasperation.

"This is what I get for not visiting you more often huh? I leave you with Gidget for a few days and already your bringing robots back from the dead." Zim was actually surprised that Dib and Gidget had gotten along so well after their initial meeting. Part of the plan for Dib to meet the staff was so that the Hybrid didn't freak out if one of the Drones walked into his room on accident. And although most of the staff seemed surprised to meet Dib, none of them were overly taken with him like Gidget had been. The small janitor had been bouncing in her shoes to be able to meet Dib, and although she seemed overly eager to speak with him, the two became very close as they found they shared a natural knack for taking things apart and putting them back together.

Zim was happy Dib found someone to hang out with, but now he worried about the safety of his tower. Two maniacal robot building enthusiasts were a health hazard to anyone within a 5 foot radius.

Dib chuckled at Zims remark but was otherwise unaffected. "Humans don't have this kind of technology on earth," with a roll of his shoulders he sighed as he closed the compartment on the robots back. "I'm just happy I get to figure this stuff out. Plus I'd feel bad if I had a new one and I wanted to take it apart to see how it works. This way if I accidentally destroy something, there's no harm to the machine because most of it is scraps anyway."

Zim accepted that explanation, not willing to take anything away from Dib if it made him happy. He wouldn't have cared though if he destroyed a new one, he could easily get him as many as he wanted, though if building them kept him as happy as he looked, he wouldn't change a thing unless the Dib asked him for something.

It seemed a bit indulgent, but Zim hadn't really spent time with people, so knowing what was acceptable on a giving level seemed more offline than he would like to admit. Though he figured Dib wasn't one to ask for many things that weren't needed, he never seemed to want small trinkets or baubles. They were useless to the hybrid, just things that don't do anything. But if he could make it himself, well that was an entirely different story.

"Do you have another meeting?" Dib asked suddenly, seeming to realize Zim was spending a good portion of his morning with him which seemed rare so far.

Zims antenna rose suddenly at attention, seeming to realize that he did have a meeting.. and.. checking his internal clock he cursed as he realized he was now late to said meeting.

Swearing in Irk Zim rose to his feet in a rush, knocking over a heap of scrap metal in his haste, "I'm late to that meeting! I gotta go but I should be back in a little bit!" Zim made it to the door before he turned suddenly, catching Gidgets glare for knocking over the metal before he addressed them both, "Do NOT, and I repeat DO NOT! Let that thing destroy my tower! Is that understood?"

"We wont Zim," Dib responded, chuckling lightly, "no need for you to worry". Zim looked at the robot in question, wanting a response from it as well to confirm that it understood.

"I'm a Taco!" it yelled before blowing a raspberry and hitting its head with a screwdriver again.

"If that thing gets out again and causes trouble," Zim warned, "I will shoot it." he threatened, wanting them to understand he wanst going to take another hit to his chest again should that thing attack.

Dib rolled his eyes, but squeezed the robot tighter to make sure he didn't try to escape again. "Did you hear that Gir? Zim says you cant attack him again or he'll get really angry with you ok?" Dib spoke as if he were talking to a child, the robot flashed red for a moment, saluting Dib before he went back to blue, giggling madly.

"Gir? You named it?" Zim asked incredulously, half way out the door but stopping to throw Dib a weird look.

"Technically…." Gidget chimed in, "When we asked him to identify himself he said, 'Gir, reporting for duty.' I guess it kind of stuck so we haven't renamed him."

"Gir?" Zim asked, "as in SIR? But, what does the G stand for?" to which Gir replied with a remorseful, "I don't know."

Zim left then, trying to understand the madness but finding his Pak couldn't handle the information. With a hand to his head he traveled further down the hall, trying to get himself ready for the meeting, almost feeling upbeat until he heard a loud crash followed by the scream of "Taquito's!" then hysterical laughter followed by Dib and Gidget trying to coax the SIR unit from the ceiling.

"My towers gonna be destroyed," Zim said to himself, both hands covering his face as he activated the main computer to be on guard to clean up whatever mess the hybrid and his drone could make. Heaving a great sigh, Zim prepared himself for the meeting again, trying to disregard the mayhem ensuing in his tower until he could get back from the current issues at hand.

"Hopefully I can have the meeting done and over with before they decide they want to re-build a megadoomer. Until then, Irk help me."

Another crash sounded further down and Zim merely groaned as he stepped into the war room, knowing his plea for his tower to still be standing probably wasn't going to happen.


	10. Chapter 10

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 10: An Unlikely Visitor**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Hey guys, wanted to give you another chapter before the end of the week, Hope you guys like it! Read and review ^_^**

Zim sat hunched over in his seat, regarding the tablet in front of him with unrefined annoyance as he scrolled through the list of candidates Mika and Ivan had picked out, this was the group of invaders they thought were perfect for the insider mission. Zim had gone through the list quite quickly, discarding invaders left and right as he read up on their background information with less than a few minutes each. What took Ivan and Mika days to compile a nice list of 37 candidates, Zim had reduced to 5 in no less than 10 minutes.

Mika wanted to complain that Zim hadn't even really looked at the invaders he seemed to chuck to the side, but Zim shot him a look that shut him up fast.

Zim was notorious for being a speed reader, honing his skils for years in the archives of the tallest tower made him unmatched in that regard. Comprehension wise he was undefeatable, Zim was able to merely look a person up and down once and know their full background story. In effect, he was able to shoot through this list with a practiced hand, flicking out the invaders who would be more detrimental to the mission than good.

They needed someone with a level head, someone who didn't have a short temper and was good at getting out of sticky situations. It narrowed the list heavily when Zim read the emotional reports on the invaders, throwing out the ones who cracked under pressure or those who had difficulty following simple commands.

The ultimate five he had chosen weren't up to his standards yet, but he was merely reading from a piece of paper. Everyone could lie on paper, they could say things that aren't exactly true and no one would be the wiser. Height was a common thing Irkens in higher up positions tended to falsify a lot, but they couldn't hide it when in plain sight.

To really analyze the invaders, Zim was going to have to meet them, size them up himself and conduct his own little tests to see if they would pass. They might have looked good on paper, but in person would be the deal breaker.

Ivan twitched his antenna in irritation as Zim laid the files down on the table, keeping his mouth shut for the moment as he regarded their leader. Mika seemed to be pouting in the corner of the room, looking anxiously at the door every so often. Zim still studied the papers in front of him but noticed the movement of Mika's fidgety antics, becoming annoyed with his inability to sit still for less than an hour.

"Somewhere you need to be Mika?" Zim groused in a tone that sounded of an angry mother scolding her child. Mika looked up abashed before he stopped his movements, antenna lowered in embarrassment for being caught. "No sir!" he added quickly, "I was just wondering how your new housemate, the Dib creature was doing."

Zim raised a non- existent eyebrow, looking up from his work at Mika before pointedly looking at the door. "You can go see for yourself how he's doing, but this time, don't fall into the pool. We'll come get you when were finished here." Just as Zim finished his statement Mika was already up out of his seat in excitement and out the door before Ivan could even bat an eyelash.

"You sure that's a good idea?" asked Ivan, momentarily studying Zim as he watched his leader scroll again through the files on top of the table. "Is what a good idea?" There was a hint of annoyance in his voice at being distracted again, but this time Zim let it go for the moment, trying to concentrate on the files of one particular invader who showed a bit more promise than the rest of them. Again he would have to interview them and test them like he planned, but form what he was seeing, he may have found their insider.

"Letting him go see the Dib creature," continued Ivan, not bothered by Zims attitude, having dealt with it several times in the past to know when Zim was actually serious, and when he was just in a mood. "I mean the last time they met he was almost eaten, who knows what could happen to him this time around."

Zim chuckled, giving Ivan a dubious look. "If I thought he was going into a dangerous situation this time around, then I wouldn't have let him leave. And besides, we know where he's going, so long as he keeps his head out of the clouds he should be fine." That was until Zim remembered Dibs little project and furrowed his brow in worry. "Eh.. probably, he should be fine."

"He probably should be fine?" repeated Ivan, looking at Zims worried expression. "Dib has sort of… gotten himself into a project with Gidget and has been working with her for the past week and a half."

"What's the project?" Ivan was just a little curious as to what the little earthling could have gotten into, one that could put that kind of expression on Zims face had to be something good. "They've been putting together broken and defective SIR units and turning them on, the one they were able to turn on this morning nearly gave me a spootch attack." Zim shivered in recollection, glad to be out of that things grasp. "I told them if it caused any more trouble I would destroy it, so I think we should be ok for now."

"Why don't you just get him a working SIR unit? It'd probably work a lot better than any broken one he could put together, and wouldn't malfunction as much." Zim gave Ivan a look, one that Ivan understood.

He already tried that, and it didn't work.

"Besides," Zim added, "He wants to create something all on his own. Earth materials don't come close to what he's able to work with here, he wants to make something unlike any of the other SIR units, he wants to make it… unique."

Ivan seemed to take that answer, thinking to himself while Zim finished up the paperwork. A comfortable silence enveloped the two long- time friends as they sat together in the war room, Zim continued to stare down at the work in front of him while Ivan pushed his chair closer to the Irken. "About this mission," Ivan stated seriously, "If you really think an insider will work, have you considered sending in a team of individuals instead of just a one man operation?"

Zim leaned back in his chair, thinking the question over seriously, "A team could work later on in the investigation, more so when we've narrowed down the main base and are ready to infiltrate. Sending in a team too soon in the beginning could give us away faster. Our goal is to be inside the main operations and be involved with what's going on, figure out how the company works, where everything is stored, and make our evaluations on how to proceed from that. Keeping track of several invaders that all have different ideas and strategies for how to precede once there in the hot zone could become messy. They could even start fighting amongst themselves if the situation becomes too tense and they get antsy. As the saying goes, 'too many big fish in one small pond' or something like that."

Ivan nodded in understanding, invaders were definitely territorial over their missions, they didn't like to share their feats, especially with other invaders, but Ivan was thinking more along the lines of backup scenarios. If the invaders got into a sticky situation, someone on the outside could relay their distress signal, since it would be too risky for the invader to send out any wide range distress calls while in the middle of the operations. The tech the slave traders were working with was designed so they could block outgoing signals, which was why it was so difficult to pinpoint their location. They knew the base was underground, and only a handful of shortwave signals could breach the hull of whatever they had shielding their location. Relay teams were set up by the government to try and track the signals, but since they were far and few between when the calls were made, it was near impossible to track them or their movements. Dummy signals would also be sent out just to confuse the government, making them chase false leads and wind up at dead ends. It was infuriating, but nonetheless brilliant in avoidance maneuvering.

"How about one invader for the mission, but a distress team on the outside to monitor the invaders progress? They could set themselves up close to the base of operations to watch over the invader and accept his calls, but would be far enough away that if the traders caught onto the signals, they could loop them back around so they looked like dummy relays."

Zim was willing to accept that as an idea, but that meant they were going to have to open the perimeters of the investigation up to more individuals. It was risky but worth it if the first steps of the recon went smoothly.

Before the conversation could get any more in depth, a loud explosion went off down the hall, followed by a very high pitched scream that Zim recognized as, "Gir!" Zim was out of his chair faster than Ivan thought possible, storming out of the war room and practically running down the hall to where the explosion had gone off, Ivan fast on his heels.

Slamming open Dibs door and marching inside, Zim looked for where the explosion had gone off. Eyes scanning the area he saw Dib, sitting on the floor holding onto Gir who was laughing hysterically while Dib tried unsuccessfully to shut him up. Gidget was trying to hide behind Dib when Zim burst through the door, and Mika, where was Mika?

"A little help please!" a voice called from above them. Zimj looked up in time to see Mika dangling precariously from the ceiling holding onto a dislodged support beam. 'Well that explains the explosion,' Zim thought in agitation. There, right where Mika was dangling, a large hole adorned the ceiling, one of Irks suns, the smaller one, was directly in line of the hole, peppering light down into the room. Chunks of cinder and other materials used to build the building had fallen down into the room, some of it had even landed in the garden and inside of Dibs tanks.

Zim took his eyes off of the ceiling to glare at the robot now singing in Dibs arms, stomping his way over to the pair, noticing Dib seemed to tighten his hold on the robot who caused this destruction.

"Diiiiib", Zims voice escalated into a growl on the last letter, "Do you remember a few hours ago I told you if that robot caused any more destruction I would destroy him? Well?" Zim looked at Dib pointedly, hands on his hips in an angry fashion. "It wasn't his fault!" Dib said suddenly, looking pleadingly into Zims eyes, working the puppy dog look on the Irken tallest. "Gidget and I were messing around with one of the blast cannons in the scrap pile, we didn't even know it was active but when it went off, well…..the blast flew Mika up into the ceiling before the actual ray shot through." "It was amazing!" Cried Gir who clapped excitedly before Dib covered his mouth with his hand, trying again to shut the robot up. Zim was already pissed, no reason to make him even more so.

"We didn't mean for it to go off, it just sort of, happened." Dib finished lamely, trying to hold Zims gaze but the Tallest just seemed to be emanating anger from every one of his pores.

"So your telling me," anger laced Zims voice as he spoke, "That that robot wasn't the reason you now have a brand new skylight, but it was because some scrap which has been sitting in Gidgets room for probably a couple of years! just decided to work all of a sudden and blow a hole in the ceiling!?" Zim shouldn't have been that mad, he knew his anger was mainly cause of the stress he's been under, and Gidget through the years that she had lived in the tower had caused more damage than he could remember. But today, with everything going on just had him on the verge of exploding himself.

Ivan had begun helping Mika from the ceiling when he heard Zim start yelling, realizing it would be best to get both him and Mika out of there before Zim turned his anger on them. If there was one thing Ivan always tried to avoid, it was Zims anger.

"You could have been hurt!" Zim continued in his tirade, "Or killed! You endangered the lives of your friends! The people who live in the tower! Don't you understand your actions have consequences?! Were lucky no one was killed! But that doesn't stop it from happening if you don't take better care of your actions!" Zim had begun pacing in front of them, not even realizing Mika was being dragged out the Door by Ivan as they made their quick escape. Gidget was cowering behind Dib, having been lectured like this before by Zim, but it always stunned her when it happened. Zim was famous for his anger, and even though he never once raised a hand to her or to anyone who ever made him mad, his words were like a slap to the face. They conveyed more weight and hurt than any type of physical violence ever could.

Gir had by now stopped singing and was holding onto Dib as if his life depended on it, a small amount of understanding passing through his defective servers letting him know they were in trouble.

"And worst of all!" Zim shouted, no- where near done with them at this point, his anger getting the better of him as he let his frustrations out on the two beings in the room. "You could have caused far more damage than just a hole in the ceiling! And Gidget! Just what were you thinking having a blast cannon in here huh?! Spare parts are one thing but discarded weapons are another! You should have known better than anyone what that thing could do had it been fully charged! The next time you want to play with weapons, you do it in a facility that can handle the charge effects of fired weapons so no one is in danger of getting killed!" Zim was panting by now, having stopped long enough to see if his words had gotten through to them.

What he saw had his breath catch and his anger die almost instantly.

Dib and Gidget had both been reduced to tears, cowering together on the floor, having backed away from Zim while he had been pacing, having been afraid of him. Zims anger had scared them.

Sure he was trying to prove a point, what he said was true, they could have gotten people, including themselves killed for that matter. But he had never meant to scare them like this, he just wanted them to understand the error of their ways. Now it seemed, he had caused an error of his own, and probably should have gotten his emotions under control before he scolded them. There were better ways to teach a lesson, and Zim hadn't done the better one.

Zim stepped forward slightly, regret in his eyes and fully intending to apologize for his outburst, but when both Gidget and Dib flinched back, away from his movements, Zim felt like he had been hit in the stomach.

"I-I'm sorry." Zim stuttered out before quickly turning to leave, no longer wanting to look at the fear they held in their eyes towards him. He only stopped long enough to tell them he would have a construction crew come to fix the ceiling before he was out the door and back in his own room.

Zim sagged against the door once it was shut, slowly settling himself on the floor as he stared blankly in front of him. It had been a while since he was ever that mad, or at least mad enough to make someone cry. He was just frustrated over everything going on, but that was just an excuse. The anger shouldn't have gotten the better of him, and he definitely shouldn't have thought it wise to yell at the two youngest individuals living in the tower.

Sure Gidget was older than Dib, but considering Irkens lived far longer now that they had their PAK's as life supports, Gidget was still only a child, a pre-teen if you will. Maybe that's why she and Dib got along so well. According to professor Membrane, Dib's body matured faster than his mind, keeping him relatively young while his body took on the form of a fully developed male. It was sort of like reverse dog years, the body matured fast, but then stopped at full growth. Now the mind had to catch up, in essence, Dib was a teenage like Gidget. They were the same age, and now, would develop along the same timeline. Dibs body would stay young, unlike that of an animal, but his mind would grow into maturity as he aged regularly. It was a weird concept if you thought about it, but Dib was a whole new species with no guidelines on what to expect.

He was a marvel of science, a marvel that Zim just made cry after he yelled at him. By tallest he felt like an idiot. The Dib had just started to trust him, and now, 'now he hates me', thought Zim, depression taking over at the thought of Dib cringing in fear every time Zim would go to say hi to him. It had Zim hitting his fist against the floor in agitation, 'I shouldn't have yelled like that' he thought. 'If I had better control over myself and didn't let the stress get to me, I wouldn't be in this mess'.

Zim couldn't wallow in his sadness for too much longer though, the computer chose that moment to alert him that he had a visitor.

"Whyyy?" Zim whined when he looked at the screen to see who it was that was bothering him without making an appointment first.

There in all her glory was Paeol, a high class Irken with an even higher up attitude. Though her beauty was something to admire, her insides were as ugly as any wormsnout backwater scum living in a deceased carcass backing in the sun. "She's requesting an audience with you sir, and by request, she's coming into the tower and heading straight for your room." Chimed the computer, leaving Zim to wonder why he even had security if they couldn't even stop one intruder. Especially when he really didn't want to be bothered right now.

This just wasn't his day was it? And here Paeol comes to make it worse. Just as he thought it, his door wooshed open to reveal the elegant Irken. Zim had to hurry to stand before the door opened, now standing at attention in front of his unwanted guest.

Her form was regal in the elegant beauty she sported, the dark blue hues of her robes flowed over her body like a thousand waves, though not covering up her curves. For a female of his race, she was the essence of what beauty looked and felt like, though Zim knew not to take any of this lightly. She was ugly in more ways than one, and he could sense it through her eyes, the deep depths of royal blue in her optics nothing more than swirling black holes just waiting to devour and conquer as many lives as they could. They held a meanness in their depths, a trait Paeol always carried with her that said, she was better than everyone.

"I'm not in the mood today Paeol, so say what you need to say then leave." Zim wasn't going to mince words with her, she knew he didn't care for her, and he never tried to hide that, never thought to hide it. He had always said what he felt and meant, and that was never going to change. He just wanted to get this meeting over with, he was tired enough as it was, and still feeling rather depressed about what had happened not too long ago with Dib and Gidget. He was gonna have to make it up to them somehow.

"Oh spare me your bad mood oh great Irken tallest Zim, it shouldn't surprise you that I'm here, or did you forget we have plans later for dinner with my father? I came here to pick your carcass up so you wouldn't be late." She sneered the last part, her words sounded like the thick cracks of a whip when she spoke, accentuating her deep rugged accent. Her homeland being farther north of a main Irken island where their dialect was distinctly different than that of the homeland. Even her delicate figure acclaimed her as one of the natives of the islands Baggok and Curick. Though her temperament was anything like the docile natives Zim had come to know and respect during his travels. Paeol was cunning, vicious, a liar, and overall despicable. The only good quality about her Zim guessed, was that her beauty made up for her foul attitude. Even her father, a man Zim liked and respected, seemed befuddled that his offspring had turned out the way that she did.

Zim just rolled his eyes at her comment, he hadn't forgotten he had plans with her _father_ , he just wasn't aware that she was coming. Unlike Paeol, Marvik was a great man, and didn't spout nonsense when he spoke like many of the other politicians Zim had had to deal with. Marvik was always willing to help people, was always donating money to the poor or to any cause that would get parts of Irken society out of the gutter. This was the man Zim needed to speak to if he wanted to raise funds for the mission he, Ivan and Mika were so invested in. Not that Zim couldn't acquire many of the funds they needed to do the mission properly, Zim wanted a figurehead at the stand so awareness could be brought. As Tallest, Zim could do many things that would be good for Irk, but at the face of it, it left him with too many things to take care of. Irk needed to learn how to help itself out, Zim couldn't do everything, so instead, he would be using Marvik as a way to get Irken people more involved with their society. If more of their people helped out to stop crime or to help make awareness for those who had it bad, then that left Zim with fewer things to worry about. Of course Zim would be in the background helping out in any way that he could, but the object of it would be so the people wouldn't _have_ to rely on him. More people would come to the stand before he would have to.

Marvik was already leading a big change, and Zim wanted his name to be at the forefront of headlines. Though Zim would be running the actual mission in apprehending the slave traders, Marviks name would be the one they light in gold to announce who had funded the program and who had saved the victims.

Politically this would boost Marviks career, but the old man was a bubbly do-gooder who could care less for fame, he just liked to give his money away to help people whenever he could.

Paeol on the other hand, now she was a woman who wanted power. She thrived for the chance to gain political revenue in any way she could. Even going so far as to bed herself with as many famous people she could before she went onto the next victim. She wanted fame, she wanted money, but most of all she wanted power. Paeol wasn't stupid either, she had made a good fortune for herself when marriages with wealthy suitors hadn't gone the way she planned, getting as much money out of the divorce that she could make away with before she went onto someone else.

You'd think by now most people would know not to mess with her, but her thick tongue was sly, it coaxed others into her arms, they wouldn't know it was too late until her ugly side showed itself and ate their head.

Zim had always been a good judge of character, so when Paeol turned her attentions to him he had waved them off as quickly as they had come. She was relentless in her advances, but it wasn't Zim she was after, it was his position as Tallest that made her hunger. After months of trying to court an unwilling Zim Paeol took the next step, and went to the grand council.

This was where Zims frustrations grew to immeasurable sizes, and when he had finally lost his temper after keeping it in check for so long.

Paeol had gone to the grand council with a proposition, one that she was sure they wouldn't refuse. And to that effect, they hadn't, they had been eager for this proposition to work out, and had contacted him to tell him the good news.

The council had always been trying to get Zim under their thumb, he never acted when they told him to act, and he never seemed to care for their order. He was their tallest, but his position had been appointed by them, although Zim had made his way to the top by his own means, and had gained a reputation with the people. The vote for him to be tallest was in fact by the people of Irk, the council just made it official. Still they held it over his head whenever they wanted something from him.

And that was when Paeol made the announcement that, if joined through matrimonial means, Zim would gain more power and wealth through her families influence. The tallest would then become the wealthiest person in all of Irk, which would expand his power by lightyears. Paeol was thrilled when the council agreed, and had called on Zim to announce that he and Paeol should marry by the next winter year.

Zim had been in a meeting when he got the message that he was now engaged to Paeol, a woman he had no time for in any of his lifetimes, and was in fact, dumbfounded for all of 2 whole minutes before rage took over.

He wasn't their puppet to play with, and he refused to be treated as such.

The term hotheaded was coined that day when Zim showed up in the grand council chambers on the verge of destroying everything in his path. He had made it abundantly clear that he was not by any means marrying Paeol, and that the idea was a crude attempt at gaining control over his leadership. The council had backed down from his temper, but took the idea for him to gain more political leverage, as well as wealth seriously.

They had told Zim he didn't have to marry right away, but that he and Paeol should spend more time together so a bond could form between them. Zim was aghast at the offer, but didn't say anymore. He left in a huff, but not before he broke down a few walls to get out instead of just using the doors. 'Let them be that way', Zim had thought to himself, 'it'll be a cold day in hell before he ever married anyone like Paeol, they just made it a waiting game. Zim wasn't ever going to marry her, even if he had to make the council sit and wait for a hundred years before they understood that.'

Paeol had been calm through the whole ordeal, patient as was her nature, she knew she couldn't rush this. She would just have to court Zim long enough for him to want her as well.

That was almost 3 years ago, and Paeols patience was running thin. She looked at Zim now, clad in his dark red robes, disdain in her eyes. Her beauty was far beyond any other woman on Irk and he had the audacity to treat her like she was nothing more than filth on the ground. She was upset that her beauty couldn't cloud his eyes like the other fools on Irk, upset that he looked through her, and didn't kiss the ground she walked on. 'He should consider himself lucky that I'm offering myself to him', she thought, wanting to slip her long slender fingers around his neck and choke him for being so blind.

Though Zim not being a fool was something that attracted Paeol to him. She had grown bored with the other men who just wanted her for her beauty, sure she could manipulate everything she wanted from them with it, but Zim proved to be a challenge. And Paeol never gave up a challenge.

"Why are you coming along?" Zim had asked, derailing Paeol from her thoughts, she watched him as he moved past her and out the door, not bothering to wait for her. A snarl twisted her mouth before she answered, looking positively murderous as she followed him out into the halls before grabbing him and pushing him into the wall.

"Because if you've forgotten dear one," she hissed, her words filled with acid, "Were supposed to be getting along so we can be married. Wouldn't that make needing my families money easier to get too once we've joined? Or do you like jumping political hula-hoops to make your projects succeed?"

Zim felt his PAK collide with the wall before Paeols voice was in his face, chilling him slightly at the hostility in her words. She was tall, not as tall as him, but tall enough that their eye level almost met, and he could see the anger that clouded hers. She had him locked against the wall in her surprisingly strong grip, though if Zim wanted to, he could have fought his way out from in front of her. He didn't like being caged, but he also didn't like confrontation with a boulder that was too stupid to know when to give up.

"And if you've forgotten," he spat out the words as if they left a foul taste in his mouth, "I want nothing to do with this marriage, and have no intention of following through with it, no matter how many times you cry to the grand council. You only want this marriage so you can gain political ground and power, and I have no use for a false love."

They stared each other down for what felt like hours before Paeol released her grip on him and backed up, her eyes holding a smoldering rage before they sparked a little, something rippling beneath the surface as a slow sensual smile graced her angelic features. This time when she touched him, it wasn't in rage, but soft and light, pushing him back against the wall as she let her body press up against his. "But Zim," she cooed out in her perfect accent, her voice dripped like thick honey as she regarded Zim in a feral light. "I'm so much better than anyone you could ever ask for, stop fighting the inevitable and allow me to make you happy." She purred the last part against his antenna, delighted in the shiver that went down his body as she spoke. She was getting closer to him, had wrapped her arms around his lower back, pressing him to her while still keeping him up against the wall. She could feel his breath on her face as she leaned forward, trying to seal them together with a kiss before he pushed her away quickly.

"No!" Zim practically yelled, towering over her, anger lighting up his eyes, "Now get out before I have you thrown out!" with that he marched ahead of her, disappearing around the corner into the janitors closet before she could catch him. He stayed there until he heard her yell out a quick "Fine!" before the computer announced she had left the property. Zim contemplated staying in the closet all night, not wanting to see Paeol again when he met with Marvik, but knowing he wouldn't be able to avoid her forever. And he really did need to speak with Marvik about the goals of the mission and how much money they would need to procure for everything to go smoothly.

"I just wish she would leave me alone." Zim whined, hitting his head on the wall before emerging from the closet. "I guess she just doesn't understand what no means," he muttered to himself as he made his way down the halls of the tower, becoming even more frustrated over the fact that he would have to deal with her through dinner.

"Today is just really not my day."


	11. Chapter 11

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 11: Learning to Apologize**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Hey you guys, another quick update before I go MIA again, got a lot of things I gotta do this week so it may be a little while before the next update. I'll try to make this chapter a bit longer to give you guys something to look forward to. Read and enjoy!**

Zim left the tower after Paeol had gone, giving himself enough time after her departure so he wouldn't accidentally run into her. It was still early before he had to meet Marvik for dinner, so a walk through the downtown district would do good to cool his head. He really didn't want to have to deal with Paeol or her unhealthy obsession with his Tallest status, he wanted time to talk to her father without her interrupting every five minutes with wedding ideas. And although he liked Marvik, his daughter drove him to want to tear at his antenna.

Zim had scurried out of the back entrance to the tower, avoiding the main roads as he headed for Irks inner city, the downtown district. He didn't want to risk the chance of Paeol waiting to make a sneak attack, so going into the back alleys was his only other option. Zim never felt uncomfortable traveling through the so called 'shady areas of town' to get where he needed to be. In his opinion, they worked better because no one traveled through the areas so he was mainly left to himself. Although the odd passerby would gawk and stare as their tallest strode down the walkway like it was no big deal, hoping over puddles and avoiding the trash that littered the area.

The Irken tallest felt an angry twinge in the back of his head, knowing that he raised a good amount of money to help clean the streets, and seeing that it wasn't anywhere near being done, he felt he would have tp start cleaning them himself. He had always struggled with dirt and filth, being the OCD clean freak that he was. Having the city that he lived in be neglected while the more prosperous streets were taken care of made him unbelievably mad. Building his tower in the middle of the city had been his idea of course, after all, wouldn't the streets benefit if their ruler lived in the middle of filth. It would definitely catch attention, and it had, the main streets were cleaned almost every day. But Zim found that it was just the surface they were taking care of, the places around the tower and the walkways that everyone used. The avoided streets, the alleys and the midlines to where the poor population started to rise, those were the ones that were neglected.

And Zim hated it, hated knowing that the rich were taken care of, knowing that the people around him were starving and out of reach for help. It started with the streets, but it grew into the pandemic he saw before him. The people living outside of his walls were unknowing to this level of decay their city was pouring out onto the streets.

They wouldn't have any clue unless more awareness was brought to them, 'I wonder what they would do if they saw me down myself in pickup gear and start cleaning the streets with a hard hat and a shovel.' He thought absentmindedly, giving another onlooker in the streets a weird look when they didn't stop staring fast enough.

When the streets started to filter back to clean and the noise volume picked up again, Zim knew he had made it to the downtown district. Walking a little faster, keeping his head down so the busy people wouldn't have time to recognize him, he made a path through the market place, wanting to stop at a few trinket shops before his appointment tonight. He still felt bad for having made Gidget and Dib cry earlier when he had scolded them for playing with unsafe weaponry. Sure he had been right in how they could have injured themselves and others, but the way he went about trying to teach them a lesson just wasn't the way to go. Yelling has its effect when you want to gain attention, yelling to scold just seemed to get him fear.

The Dib was probably going to avoid him now until he trusted him again, but maybe if he bought him something, he wouldn't be inclined to stay upset for too long. He'd have to get Gidget something too, but Dib was his top priority, Gidget would be happy with any number of spare parts he could get her for her toys. Not that he wasn't going to go a little expensive to get her something she could actually use, a quick call to the scrap yard would do wonders.

The Dib would be a little harder to shop for, unlike Gidget, Dibs room was underwater. The space he occupied had little effect for him because he never stayed out of his tank for very long. His I-pad that he used was waterproof, and it was the strongest model out so far, so getting him another one would defeat the purpose. Clothing just seemed stupid because he wouldn't ever be able to wear them unless he left the tower, and until he had his transportation set up, it was a ways away before he had to dress Dib in anything. Plus, Zim didn't want to get him anything practical, he wanted to get him something nice, something that would make him feel better, something that said _I'm sorry_ from the bottom of my cardiac muscle.

Though Zim himself wasn't very good at apologizing, sure he could say sorry, but sometimes you needed to show others how sorry you are through actions. You could spout out I'm sorries until your tongue falls off, it won't make it true unless you show you mean it. Buying expensive gifts isn't always the way to fix things either, but a small thoughtful present helps the words along.

Nothing extravagant, just small, meaningful, that's what Zim was going for.

Making his way into the art district, Zim couldn't keep his head down for long, not when he started to take in the extravagant displays before him of the unique sculpture garden you needed to pass through to make it into the artist market. The usual stone of the walkways fell away once you made it to this area, being replaced by mosaic tile that portrayed the stars and the past of old generation Irkens. Mosaics of every color wove their way through the paths, telling multiple tales of love, betrayal, and sadness, all the while sculpture gardens splattered through the area, making a maze of rare plants with even more vibrant colors glimmering in your eyes. It was breathtaking, a marvel of the talents Irk could produce, and it bustled with life everyday since it was one of the more popular areas to travel through. Sculptures made from every type of rock or medium littered the walkways outside of the gardens, artistically rendered stone creatures could be seen crawling up lamp posts, and hiding in gutters, some were even sculpted sitting on the benches, or outside of restaurants, looking as if they were begging for food. It gave the area a mythical feel, the children of Irk would play around these stone carvings, their imaginations soaring with wonderment of what life would be like if they had been real.

As the crowds grew plentiful the deeper in he went, Zim felt himself relax a little more, knowing that when surrounded, people tend not to pay attention to who's around them. It was easy to sneak through a crowd of people unnoticed, but it's harder to go into a store unnoticed.

Thankfully, the store Zim wanted wasn't one people frequented much. It wasn't that it wasn't popular, it was, but it only seemed to attract a select few, plus the owner was a grumpy old Irken who didn't like people who just came in to look. He'd lecture you all day about wasting valuable market time if he found you in his store and you didn't buy something. Zim had known him since he was an invader, even before that to when he was a grunt for the military, the old man had caught him steeling from him on several occasions. He never made him give back the things he stole, Zim realized, but he did make me work for what I took, saying if I didn't have money, I should provide another type of payment to earn what I wanted.

In a way, Zim was grateful to the old man, he had shown Zim the way into becoming tallest, all with a few hard earned trinkets he had stolen. You don't get to the top with thievery and trickery, people will always figure out you're a liar when you can't fulfill the promises you made to them. if you want something, you gotta work hard for it, taking the easy route will make it harder for you when crunch time rolls around.

Zim took the old man's words and listened to them every day while he was training to be an invader, and still when he was running for the political candidate spot to be tallest. Even while he was in lead to be tallest, he never stopped working, it aggravated his competitors when they offered to do something to gain the public's favor. They'd turn around for a second and Zim would have already completed the task.

This was how Zim gained the lead with the public, they liked that he didn't just say he was going to do something, but that he completed several different things all at once and it didn't take him long to do it. Of course he had a lot of revenue when it came to funding, having met Marvik early on in his campaign, which Zim realized was a lucky break. Had he not met the do-gooder of a politician, Zim would have had a harder time raising money for the projects he came up with. The year Irk needed a new bridge after the old one was deemed faulty and due to collapse at any minute, was the deciding factor of who was going to be tallest. Zim and Marvik had each worked together to pull funds, making sure the construction crew was paid well for their services, and that the materials to rebuild the bridge were of better material so the bridge would last longer. The process was painstakingly long, and Zim felt that even after they had the materials and a well organized crew, the construction would never be done by the time he had promised.

So with a determination befitting that of the stubborn invader Zim knew himself to be, he joined the construction crew and helped them rebuild the bridge. He was used to hard labor, so this type of work, although slightly filthy, was easy enough to apply himself to. He liked being able to use his hands, to build things, it made him feel like he was part of building the city. His city.

The construction crew was surprised to say the least, watching their political figure head, runner up to be tallest, pulling on working boots and a hard hat while moving cinderblocks around like he had done it his entire life. It seemed to elate them when they realized he wasn't just doing it for political likeness. Zim came every-day, from dawn till dusk he worked with them, he ate with them, and he shared stories of invader training with them while making sure the work they did would meet the deadline. And even though they were a day later than Zim had promised, they had finished the bridge in under 6 months, the construction crew cheering the entire time after they had cut the ribbon to open up the bridge to the public. A day later Zim was announced as the new tallest, and he went down to the construction company to share the good news.

The celebration on that day seemed endless, but Zim had gained many friends throughout it, and he was happy that all of his success came from a stubborn old man who owned a specialty store in the art district.

A stubborn old man who seemed to be dealing with an unruly customer from the looks of things, Zim recognized as he stepped up to the old building, taking in the bright blue awning and the tapered glass windows with a fond look. The old man never changed his shops outward appearance, even though the art district itself was known for its ever changing decorum with its bright colors and flashy designs. The old man loved his old fashioned look, and was always proud of the fact that since his work was well known, he didn't have to jump through hoops when it came to public review.

Zim could hear the argument from outside and wondered if he should intervene. The sound of shattering glass was all it took for him to make up his mind, pushing open the door with a flourish that announced his power in the way he held himself.

A kid, no bigger than three feet in height, was holding up another glass ornament, ready to chuck it when he saw Zim in the doorway. Zim could feel his ego swell when the kids bright green eyes that matched his skin widened, a small amount of fear passing through the optics as they took in his black robed form. The old man was standing there, ready to grab the ornament when he saw Zim walk in, grunting in recognition.

"Having problems controlling today's youth old man?" chuckled Zim, easily snatching the ornament from the kid since he seemed to be frozen in fear at the moment. But who wouldn't be? The kid was just caught by his tallest in the middle of a tantrum, of course he was scared.

Zim seemed to be reveling in the power he had over people, but the old man merely lifted a brow, unfazed by Zims statement. "For your information my name is Tamik, not old man, and no, there's no problem, this kid was just throwing a fit because I caught him stealing. When I took the bauble away from him he saw fit to break it instead of saying sorry."

"Like I said" Zim laughed, going to stand next to his oldest friend, "You must be getting old if the youth aren't scared of you any- more." Ignoring Tamik's huff of disproval he turned his attention to the child, leaning against the counter casually as he spoke, trying to keep the grin off his face as he tried to look serious.

"Young man" Zim stated sternly, "I think you owe Tamik here an apology." The kid looked like he was shaking in his shoes, regaining control of his limbs long enough to pull his arms down to his sides before regarding Zim. "Well?" Zim asked, tapping his foot in impatience, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning down towards the youth.

Before the kid could answer, the door jingled open and in walked a young woman. She was holding a baby in her arms and trying to carry a bag of groceries at the same time while shuffling into the store. "Harris," she called out, not looking up from fiddling with the bags. "Come on its time to go home, your brothers getting impatient and I want to be back in time to…." Her words cut off as she took in the scene before her, finally looking up from what she was doing, and dragging her gaze back and forth between the tallest, and her son.

"M-My tallest, it's an honor to meet you!" She stuttered out, bowing slightly but keeping her gaze locked on her son who stood before Zim. "Harris," her tone was low, menacing, "What. Did. You. Do?"

The kid looked on the verge of crying, Zim felt kind of bad that the mother instantly knew the kid did something wrong. Parents seemed to have it the worst when it came to Irken children, they grew up slow, and they were always causing some kind of mischief, or getting into trouble when they shouldn't be.

"It's quite alright," Zim chimed in, coming to stand before the mother, a slight smile on his face so to placate her worries. "Harris just owes this gentleman an apology for breaking something he tried to steal, that's all." The woman looked aghast at her son, but her eyes said that she has had to deal with this sort of thing before. She looked around Zim to her child, he had his eyes downcast, a pouting look on his face.

"I'm truly and terribly sorry you had to deal with him in this way," She spoke up, "When we get home his father will be giving him a stern talking to, and best be sure he will never cause you trouble again." She said the last statement looking at Tamik, bowing again before reaching to grab her son.

Zim caught her arm in his grip before she could even get the collar of the boys shirt in her grasp, keeping her hand just out of reach of Harris. The mother looked to Zim with worry before he smiled at her again, shifting so she could see her son.

"I'm sorry miss, but I said Harris owed the apology, not you. I think it only right that the child who caused the disturbance be the one accounted for his actions, not his parent." He let go of her arm and looked down at Harris, the kid looked upset, but it didn't last long when his mother shot him a knowing glance.

"I'm sorry," he said with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest, looking stricken for actually having to say sorry.

Zim was sarting to see why the mother had that look, the kids attitude was already getting on his nerves. They won't learn if you coddle them, and Zim knew that even if the kid wouldn't for a while after this meeting, he'd be stealing again in no time.

Well that was going to end.

"Kid," the tallest addressed Harris now, giving him the best glare he could muster. It seemed to work, because he went ramrod straight in attention.

"Do you like causing your mother grief?" Harris shook his head no quickly, eyes never leaving Zims form, even as Zim began to move closer to him. "Oh I think you do," he said it whimsically, a hint of false humor coloring his words. "And I don't think you properly learned your lesson, in fact, I don't think you've ever learned your lesson because, just by looking at your mothers face, I can tell that your thinking of stealing again. I can just see it, because you've never been given a, _proper punishment_." Zims words floated airily, but they seemed to weigh the kid down to the spot, a slight tremor going through him. "Now, I want you to give Tamik here a real, sincere apology, **and** , I want you to apologize to your mother. But, if I find out that you ever steal again, that you caused trouble in any store your mother brings you into and you cause her grief, and believe me, I will find out, I'll make sure you get sent off to the military academy faster than you can blink your little eyes orbits." The kid was crying now, and Zim felt a slight pang for causing yet another person to shed their tears, but he knew this ked needed to be taught a lesson. He was looking at his mother in fear that he may be taken away, and Zim worried that she would cave and tell him he wasn't going to be taken anywhere. Of course Zim wasn't really going to cart the kid off to the military academy, he just wanted to scare the kid so he didn't cause any more problems later on. But parent get weirdly protective over their kids if anyone threatens to take them away.

Thankfully, this parent caught on fast, and put her hand on her hip as she looked at her son, "You better apologize right now or so help me I'll let him take you today! You've caused enough trouble already and I will not let you think you can get away with it anymore just because you're young and foolish. If you think you're old enough to steal, then you're old enough to go to the military, they can work that attitude right out of ya better than I could."

His reaction was priceless, stunned wouldn't even be the words to descried how Harris reacted to his mothers words. In his defense, she was absolutely serious about it, and it worked like a charm. Harris had run into his mothers legs, clinging to her and telling her over and over how sorry he was, crying uncontrollably as he held onto her for dear life. He looked back at Tamik long enough to sob out he was sorry before going back to crying to his mother. She reached down and pet his head soothingly, leaning down to pick up her son.

"I forgive you Harris, you won't be sent away," she cooed to him, rocking him and his brother to calm them down. "I'm really really sorry," he continued to cry, his words getting hiccup-y as he wiped at his tears.

"Have you learned your lesson?" Zim asked, looking at Harris while he spoke. Harris nodded vigorously, keeping his arms locked around his mother.

"Then here," Zim gave Harris the bauble he had been fiddling with in his hands. "You learned your lesson and I'm proud of you for that, but this doesn't mean you're off the hook." Zim pointed at the bauble Harris now clutched in his hands. "If you want something, but don't have any money to buy it, do not steal it, you won't get away with it and then you'll be hearing from me. But Tamik here could always use some help around the store. He's old and stubborn but a good guy, way nicer than me, he won't send you off to the military, but he will let you work off anything you want." Zim looked over to Tamik to make sure he wasn't speaking out of line, B ut Tamik just nodded in agreement.

"If you really want something," Tamik spoke, "You either work for it, or save up enough money so you can buy it, understand?"

Harris nodded again, this time understanding seemed to light up his features before he gave the bauble back to Tamik. "I'll come back for it, I have some money saved up that I forgot to bring with me, that's why I took it. But I'll be sure to pay for it next time, so will you hold onto it for me?"

Tamik laughed, taking the ornament and placing it behind his counter, "Yes I will, I'll see you soon." With a wave of his hand Harris helped his mother get the groceries, but not before giving Zim a small hug on the leg. "Thanks for not taking me away to the military." And then he was out the door with his mom, clutching their groceries with one hand and holding onto his mother's hand with the other.

Zim just chuckled, watching them leave as he stood next to Tamik, a fond smile on his face.

"I seem to remember a certain military grunt who used to come in here every day to try and steal from me. Pity the military couldn't beat that attitude out of you all those years ago." Tamik chuckled as he regarded Zim, still remembering the tiny Irken with an ego the size of a mountain.

"Well," Zim scratched his head, looking at his old friend. "They certainly did try, but no one can control Zim!" He shouted, a flare of his old self coming back to him. Tamik merely laughed at his antics, realizing how much time had really passed between them. Zim had changed so much, it was almost scary how different he was now compared to who he used to be.

"I'm glad you're looking well Zim, I believed I'd never see you leave you're tower ever again what with you being Tallest and all." Tamik hadn't been too surprised when he heard Zim had won the Tallest election, he had been more surprised to see Zim give him to good news himself.

But before he could go off into memory land, Tamik eyed Zim suspiciously. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen you in a really long time, Don't tell me you came here just to chat with this old man."

Tamiks smile grew larger as Zim looked away guiltily, probably realizing exactly how long it's been since he had come to see his old friend. Not that Tamik would ever hold it against him, he was Tallest now, he was probably busy, he just figured poking fun at him would liven up his day.

"Sorry Tamik, I'll try to get here more often to come visit, but I did come here to buy something, I need a gift."

"A gift?" Tamik echoed, looking slightly confused. Since when did Zim give gifts to anyone? Zim read his confusion and looked away again, slightly embarrassed. "I sort of made a house- guest of mine, and one of my workers cry today when I was scolding them. It's a long story, but this happened, and that happened, and then I was yelling at them, and it turned into a big mess and now I need to apologize."

Tamik made a surprised noise which startled Zim, the old man burst out laughing, clutching his sides as he tried to reign in his glee. "Oh man I owe Marvik money for that one! I told him you would never get with Paeol but now your living with her?! I seriously lost that bet!" Tamik kept laughing But Zim gave him his best un-happy face, making sure Tamik was listening to him when he spoke.

"I would never get with Paeol, that's just disgusting, so you didn't lose any money on that bet." Zim shuddered but continued. "No this gift, this is for someone else. Their living with me, and it took a lot of time for them to even be able to trust me, but now, I'm worried that he hates me for how I acted. And I wanted to get him something to apologize, but I just don't know what to get. I was hoping you could help me out."

Zim never thought the day would come when he could ever stun Tamik. Sure the day he had told him he won the Tallest position made him happy, but he had said "took you long enough" before going back to drinking his tea. Zim looked on the memory fondly, remembering when Tamik had complained that Zim should have been tallest years ago, and that he had wasted his time with making him wait. He knew it was going to happen, it should have just happened faster.

But now Tamik seemed lost for words, just staring at Zim as if he had grown two heads. "You're living with someone? As in, they live in your tower, with you?" Tamik was clearly surprised at this information.

"Yes, he's been living with me for almost two weeks now, we had been making progress, and he didn't seem to outwardly hate me anymore, but now, I think I just reverted us back to square one with my little emotional outbreak. I mean sure what I said was true, and I keep telling myself that, but no matter how I look at it, I shouldn't have yelled at them for it. And I feel even worse now because I ended up making them cry."

Zim let his head fall into his hands as he retold the story, not being able to keep the regret from his voice.

Tamik, who still looked a little stunned, just nodded in understanding, figuring he could get more answers later, right now, he had a customer who needed his expert opinion on apology gifts.

"If you want to say you're sorry and let them know you mean it, I think I may be able to help."

Zim explained the parameters of the type of gift he was looking for, excluding out any type of clothing or object that couldn't be immersed in water. Tamik was up for the challenge, and soon was leading Zim over to an area of the store slightly obstructed from view.

"I keep all my rare items in the back," Tamik explained, showing Zim to a row of what appeared to be glass orbs sitting on a pedestal. Each orb looked no bigger than the palm of Zims hand, and oddly, they looked like regular glass balls. They were plain, with nothing in or around them, just clear glass.

Zim seemed skeptical, but he saw Tamik grin out of the corner of his eye. Picking up one of the orbs, Zim only needed to wait for a moment before something inside the ball began to happen.

All at once Zim was mesmerized at the display he was watching, becoming absorbed in the show as the orbs insides began to glow, and then movement was happening. Galaxies upon galaxies were being shown to him, their color and vibrancy easily casting a glow off of the orbs glass surface. It was like watching a star come to life, an explosion of light would happen, consuming the ball, and then you were looking out at worlds, could see their surface taking over the orbs structure, even stars that were going through different types of explosions were shown to the viewer in vibrant displays.

"What is it?" Zim asked, still looking at the orbs surface, watching a shooting star cross over the glass. It looked so real, Zim would have thought he could touch it if not for the cool of the orb reminding him it wasn't.

"It can also show you memories," Tamik replied, watching the orb flicker to life again as new images took over. "It's a galaxy ball," said Tamik after watching what appeared to be Zims memory from a desert planet he was once on. The memory allowed the viewer to conjure up images so they could basically watch their past on replay. Zim was remembering his friends in the military, the planet's surface so plain compared to the rowdy behavior of the individuals on the screen.

"Its amazing," Zim breathed out, conjuring up another memory and letting it fill the orb with pictures of the water world he had visited, realizing Dib would probably enjoy visiting that world. When his m,emory shifted to Dib, so to did the images inside the orb. Tamik who had been watching off to the side, saw the Dib creature inside the orb, almost as if he were a tiny creature caught inside a glass container. He swam beautifully, his fins mesmerizing Tamik with their rainbow effect. The colors bouncing off the glass' surface and encasing Din in a rainbow effect as the water surrounded him.

"I take it," Tamik started slowly, "that this is the housemate in question?" Zim, who had momentarily forgotten Tamik was there, almost dropped the orb with Dib inside onto the ground as he was startled from his thoughts. Dibs picture disappeared, and the orb went back to being just glass as Zim looked to Tamik, a blush covering his face.

"Yes," Zim said meekly, still holding onto the orb, "I think he'll like this, I'll take it, and one extra for myself." He concluded, handing Tamik the items as he tried not to smack the elderly male to wipe the grin off of his face.

"Good choice." Tamik laughed, these are rare, I don't get very many in the store, I'm not sure how their made, or how they work, but the pictures of the galaxies you saw were inputted into the orb through other people's memories. It's a neat little device, the people who made it only giving it images of the stars and planets they had been too. Although its hard to sell them, since other people accidentally give the orb their own memories when they look at them. The orb keeps every memory inside of so it can be replayed by a viewer." Tamik demonstrated by picking up the orb Zim just held, watching as Dib swam into the ball. "These aren't my memories, so I can watch what's happening after they have been inputted. And since this is a private memory, if you didn't want to buy it, I would have had to destroy it."

Zim nodded in understanding, realizing he wasn't going to be able to touch the other orb without gloves on or something. He didn't want to give Dib a gift and Dib see himself swimming around the orb. That would just be weird, Zim figured, but he'd keep the other orb to himself.

Tamik wrapped both orbs, putting one in pink paper for Dib, and the other in blue paper for Zim, so he wouldn't get the balls mixed up when he went to give Dib his gift. Zim shopped for a couple other items for Gidget, making sure to pick out purple since the young Irken seemed to love the color for whatever reason. When he was done he thanked Tamik and left his old friend to meet Marvik for dinner, hoping all the way while he walked to the location of the restaurant that Dib would like his present.

 **Thanks for reading everyone! As a bonus I may have another chapter up tonight or tomorrow, it just depends on my school work situation. Anyway, Read and review please! ^_^.**


	12. Chapter 12

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 12: A Meeting with an old Friend**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, school is finally over but now I'm working on my research assignment. I wanted to make this chapter more informational about one of our other important characters, but don't worry, Zim and Dib will have their moment really soon. If theres anything you guys wanna see or happen specifically, let me know through PM's or reviews. Hope you guys enjoyed the latest chapter ^_^**

Zim continued down the road with his bag of gifts, stopping at a few more stores along the way to get Gidget some random mechanics she could probably play around with. He had long since stopped buying her anything expensive when it came to electronics, the little mech would almost always tear whatever he bought apart to make it into something else. Although he didn't mind that she was good with her hands, he was wary enough to get her something non-lethal. She could make a weapon out of anything; even a child's toy could become dangerous.

Getting her a bunch of scrap pieces and smaller electronics just made it easier when Gidget decided to create something. Plus it helped when whatever he bought her seemed to make her exceedingly happy, tearing into the new metal as if her life depended on it. The gears in her mind would kick into action and the next couple of days would be spent with her in her room bringing new life to another weapon or robot.

The thought of the robot Gir popped into his mind, mixing his feelings of guilt in with his happy mood as he stared at the gifts in his hands. 'I hope they like these,' he mumbled to himself, wanting to rid the feeling of sadness when he thought of Dib's and Gidgets upset faces. Nothing he could do to change what happened now, he just had to make sure he thought before he acted next time.

Though that would have been harder for him to do years ago, it still was, he used to be a hot headed invader with an attitude complex because he was short. He didn't like it when people looked down on him, and he prided himself on always being able to read people and get the upper hand in any type of situation.

It definitely helped when he was in the military, but now that he was tallest, older even, that hot headed attitude wasn't going to help him resolve his issues any more. The level headed Zim who thinks before he acts was the one he needed to rely on in those types of confrontations.

Being mad, yelling, and releasing pent up stress helped in its own ways, but he was no longer a child. Therefore, if he was going to keep his tallest position, and the budding relationship he was forming with Dib in good light, he was going to have to work harder than ever before when it came to putting his temper into check.

 **Later: Restaurant Kural; private V.I.P. lounge:**

Marvik was as joyous as ever, chugging down his drink with abandon as he and Zim tried to stay focused on the discussion at hand. It was slightly difficult though when you're eating at a restaurant famous for their alcoholic beverages and strong beers that could knock you out of your seat after just one.

Zim found he liked hanging out with Marvik years ago when they had first met; Marvik had turned a rather serious conversation into a drinking match, followed by the serious conversation becoming a throw-down over which diplomat was more pompous then the other. Zim couldn't remember what the conversation was even about, just that he and Marvik had become very good friends afterwards, and Marvik took it upon himself to help Zim with any and all of his endeavors.

Staying on track tonight was one of the things Zim really wanted to accomplish, but the waitress kept coming back! How was he supposed to say no to more alcohol when Marvik kept pouring random drinks into his glass?

Once the food came Zim took it upon himself to begin eating, wanting the alcohol in his system to dissipate a little more before he tried to talk business with his friend. Irk knows if he tried to get a business deal done while incapacitated by alcohol, he could be bribed into doing something completely off the agenda. He still wondered what had come over his mind back then when Marvik had urged Zim into buying an island. Of course alcohol was involved with that endeavor too, but really, what the heck was he thinking? To this day he still shakes his head at the memory, while Marvik teases him about his inability to find happiness about the situation. He owns an island now! 'A private getaway', Marvik had called it.

But that was getting off topic.

Zim looked over to Marvik, watching as he guzzled his food down as if it were a liquid he could drink. Really this man needed to learn how to chew; Zim didn't understand how he hadn't managed to choke yet.

When Marvik stopped long enough to take another swig of his drink Zim took the opportunity to speak, not wanting Marvik to answer with a mouthful of food.

"So, have you taken an opportunity to look at the proposition I sent you for the new mission?" Zim didn't want to beat around the bush, getting straight to the point before they could get sidetracked again.

"We just started eating Zim, relax, we have all night to discuss the amount you need, we don't need to rush it you know." Marvik said with a chuckle, actually managing to chew a bite of his food. "Its just that I have plans tonight, and as much as I like catching up with you Marvik, sometimes I end up making less than healthy decisions whenever we drink." He gave Marvik a knowing look, causing the older Iren to bust out a curt laugh. Those light blue eyes crinkled when his large face cracked into a smile.

"Plans huh? Well that makes me kind of jealous, and here I thought you were just trying to get out of here quickly to avoid my daughter."

Zim couldn't stop the light blush that dusted his cheeks, choking a little on his drink and waving his hands as if to say that wasn't true, even though both him and Marvik knew he didn't like his daughter.

Before Zim could apologize for potentially upsetting his friend, Marvik gave another boisterous laugh at Zims embarrassed state. "Its alright Zim calm down haha, geeze you must really not like her if she has you wanting to stay away from a good time with an old friend." Marvik gave Zim a look before he continued, "I don't blame you for wanting to stay away from her, but don't worry about her showing up, she had a very important meeting to attend on my behalf tonight, so she wont be joining us."

Zim gave him a skeptical look, "I cant believe she would go to a meeting tonight rather than come here and make me miserable, I'd have figured she'd send someone else to do it for her.

Marvik shook his head, a slight smile on his face, "No no, I needed her to take care of this matter personally, it seemed that a rather big business deal just went down the gutter and we were going to be out a lot of money if she didn't go and fix the mess. I told her only she could talk them into handing back everything they owed before their company hit rock bottom."

"Marvik! Why didn't you tell me this was going on? I would have cancelled tonight had I know you were having a financial issue with another company, we can always talk another time if you want to make sure Paeol was able to get everything back." Zim felt horrible knowing now that his friend was in slight disarray, though he started to doubt that when it looked like Marvik couldn't contain his laughter.

"I don't see how this is funny," Zim stated, not too happy with being laughed at.

"Oh it's funny," Marvik stuttered out, "It's funny because…. Because…. THERE WAS NO BUSINESS DEAL!" Marvik broke out into an extreme fit of laughter while Zim just stared open mouthed at his friend. "I just told her that because I didn't want you to feel upset the entire time we were supposed to be having a good time hahahah. I cant wait to see her face when I get home tonight and tell her I "Resolved" the business deal over the phone and forgot to tell her about it hahahahha. Oh man…. Cant breath haha…. Whew man… that wore me out."

Zim was shocked! His friend had lied to his own daughter so they could hang out and talk business without Paeol there to bug him. He was going to have to get Marvik a present for that one, he definitely deserved it for getting Paeol out of his antenna.

Relaxing further Zim laughed along with his friend, "Have I ever told you how evil you are? Because right now I think I see the family resemblance." Marvik chuckled while Zim joined his mirth, glad that his friend never seemed to change even after all these years.

"So I guess this means you don't hate or resent me for not wanting to marry your daughter?" Zim asked skeptically as he took another swig of his drink, wanting to understand his friends reasoning for lying to his own kin. Marvik glanced up from his own glass, his bright blue eyes staring deeply into Zims own ruby optics, the question lingering in the air for a moment before Marvik let out a deep sigh.

"My daughter…. Has her reasons for being how she is." He stated it simply enough, but held up his hand when Zim looked about ready to argue. "I don't condone the way she has been acting, I am in all seriousness, appalled in how she is behaving over the course of her life. I am her father mind you, I will always love her, but since her mother passed, Paeol just seemed to change in a drastic way."

Marviks eyes grew distant as he remembered his late wife, seeming unable to forget his beloved, even though so many years have passed since she had last been alive.

"I didn't know," Zim spoke softly, hardly remembering a time when he and his long- time friend had even spoken about his wife.

"Would you tell me about her? How she died? I never get to hear you speak about your wife, but I imagine it is a touchy subject for you if you don't want to talk about it." In all hoesty, Zim really did wish to know about Marviks wife, but he wouldn't press his friend should he decide to stay quiet.

"I don't mind telling you about my wife Zim, it was eons ago when she died," his voice grew softer as he continued to speak, no longer touching his food, "It still feels like yesterday though, like no time has passed, I feel as if I'll be able to go home after this and see her sitting in her favorite chair, reading some weird book." Chuckling Marvik continued, "I will tell you though the reason Paeol is the way she is, I mostly blame myself for it, but I know deep down that seeing her mother in the way that she passed, it was detrimental to Paeol."

He looked away again before continuing, "Have I ever told you how I was able to become so successful Zim?" Marvik asked suddenly, boring his stare into Zim as if he could see the Irken tallest's very soul.

"No, but rumors spread all the time; I may have come across a few snippets of the information here and there, but I don't really rely on rumors when it comes to facts." Zim spoke calmly, sitting back in his seat knowing this was going to be a long story.

Marvik made a grunt of a noise, throwing Zim one of his trademark smiles, "You always were like that huh Zim? but I do contend that there are a million rumors for how I made my life successful, although none of them come close to the truth."

Taking a huge breath he continued, "I married my wife at a young age, I was overzealous and in my prime at the time, but Patrice was as beautiful as ever. I worried if I didn't ask her soon, another would come along and steal her away from me." He chuckled softly before continuing.

"We grew up on the island of Baggok, a quiet area with budding businesses and new trade establishment's with several other islands around our seas. In its prime, Baggok was beautiful; my wife and I settled into a house right after our marriage while I found work at one of the trading posts. I was learning the trade faster than my colleagues, and soon I had been promoted several times before I was able to handle my own branch of our industry. I became vice president of what was known as; "Industrial Tactile Supplies for Arms", or (ITSA) for short. It was a growing business, we imported shipments of supplies for creating any type of weaponry the military needed, including the first round of SIR units to be processed. We were making money left and right, everyone around the world needed our equipment, our engineering skills, our data imprints, our blue prints for the weapons. I even traveled for demonstrations to show war generals how certain weaponry worked and the best way to use it.

We were comfortable at this time, and soon enough, my wife fell pregnant with Paeol. I was so happy to find out this news, I nearly jumped through the roof of the building when I got the call from our family doctor. Nothing could stop me when I raced home, happier than ever knowing my wife and I were going to have a family."

His eyes grew darker as he remembered this time in the past, gripping his glass tightly when he spoke next.

"Unfortunately, this was the last time I remembered ever being happy.

Three months after hearing Patrice was pregnant, the business started to have problems. They were minor things here and there, the business moved up too quickly and now other areas dealing in Arms were popping up around the world. A little healthy competition never hurt I thought, but what I didn't know would soon tear everything I had worked for apart.

Our business had dealt into the growth of another business across the seas, into one of Irks major population areas, one that wasn't discovered until later. This business was growing much faster than our own in the island of Baggok, and they had established many more trading ports around the globe, one our business couldn't compete with. Our industry was falling apart because our founders wanted more money, so instead of keeping our business going, they finally told us they were shutting down the corporation and moving to the other business.

So many of us lost our jobs, they didn't even offer us any type of compensation for our years of work. They just threw us out onto the streets with no way of paying for our families. And since our business was the largest in offering jobs to people, the smaller businesses around Baggok shut down, everyone being hired at ITSA. When the corporation shut down, the island fell into a depression history would never forget.

The people on the island began moving their families over-seas to find jobs, but I couldn't risk traveling with the baby on the way. Patrice was frail in her pregnancy; she was always a tiny woman with a large attitude, but carrying our child just seemed to tire her out faster. Making her move across seas was sure to put stress on the baby and Patrice.

We decided that after the baby was born and they were both strong enough for the move, we would travel to a new area to find work. We saved every piece of money we had, even selling our large house for a smaller one so we could afford the trip. We were lucky our family doctor continued to see us without asking for money, for at this point we had none.

The business wiped out everything we had when it shut down, and with no financial compensation, we were out of luck.

I had managed to find odd jobs around the island to support our other payments and food for Patrice, but nothing seemed to last for long. There were hundreds of us who needed work, and only a few places who could offer it.

I cried in joy the day Paeol was born; she was my beacon of light in a world that had turned dark, a ray of hope, with Patrice at my side, I felt in that moment, holding my child in my arms, that we could survive these ungodly outcomes.

But… my happiness was gone just as soon as it had come, for Patrice had come down with an illness native to our island, and after she had our child, being in her weakened state, she couldn't fight off the infection.

Our doctor could only do so much for treatments, but without more money, we couldn't afford anything better.

I was going mad with despair, I couldn't lose my wife! not after everything we had been through! We had plans to live a better life, our child would grow up happy and I would be able to live out my days with Patrice by my side! It seemed like the world was working against me ever becoming happy, like it didn't want me to have anything but suffering and grief.

Paeol grew up watching her mother wither away in our home. Every day I tried to conjure up enough money to support us and my wife's illness, every single piece of money we had saved away I took out in order to hire new doctors who could potentially help. Unfortunately, at this stage of the disease, my wife was beyond help, and any hopes of traveling to a new area to get better treatments were shot down because the stress of the travel was sure to kill my wife faster than the disease.

Every night when I went to my wife's room, I could feel the anger boiling in me, how through everything I had done for our company, all those years of working for them, all that time spent giving them my life, my money, this is what I got in repayment?! My wife was dying, and I couldn't do anything but watch her slowly fade away, watch as she fell apart to a disease that could have been cured with better medicine! Medicine I couldn't afford because our company took all that away the day they shut us down.

And that's the kicker isn't it? we saved up everything we owned, everything we could use to make our lives better, and for what? In the end it could never save my wife, and I was feeling the effects of it when my wife finally lost the ability to recognize me. When she couldn't see anymore because the disease took over her senses, even her PAK began to fail during her final hours, sparking uncontrollably at times when she tried to move too much, or even just to hold our daughter.

The day she finally passed, she smiled at me! Can you believe it? she smiled at me, a man who in the end couldn't even help her, could do nothing but hold her hand and pray to whatever god was out there that her pain would finally go away. But she did, she smiled at me and said I made her the happiest person in the world, and that she regretted never saying it more often to me. She told me I would get through this, that our daughter had the greatest dad in the world and that she knew, that we would be able to overcome anything.

She died that night in my arms.

Paeol was no bigger than a foot, but she knew what was going on. Even at her tender age, she knew the world had been unkind to us, and she cried with me the night her mother, my Patrice died. We cried for our loss, and for our frustrations.

I made the decision after I buried my wife that I wasn't going to bow back any longer. I couldn't stand the way we were living, and if I wanted my situation to change, I wasn't going to look for opportunities any more, I was going to take what I could get, and give nothing back.

In retrospect, I think it was my wife passing that made me crazy enough to do what I did next, Irk knows I wouldn't have had the gall the do it any other time. but after Patrice left my world, I couldn't see anything except revenge, and in that sense, I made my move.

I was going to take back everything I lost from that damn company, if only to ensure Paeol could live happy and healthy for the rest of her days.

With what money I could get from random work I had done, I was finally able to travel across seas to put my plan into action. Of course this time I didn't need a lot of money because it was just myself going, I had dropped Paeol off at a distant relatives house so they could watch over her while I was gone.

The trip itself was long and grueling, and I was glad that I hadn't subjected Patrice to this while she was pregnant. But the more I endured, the stronger the anger saturated my being. I wanted revenge, and there was nothing now that could stop me.

I hunted down the new business that started up while ours was still in its prime, the one that took over everything, and I made myself a worker within its bowels. I started down low, gaining the information I needed in order to work my way up. It wasn't hard really, I drove myself to the brink of insanity to make it to the top, but when I finally did, I had enough information on the facility to tear it apart from the inside.

And that's exactly what I did.

I started slow, picking off branch after branch of the infrastructure, cutting down trade groups with bad deals and faulty machinery. Since I was now at the top of the corporation, no one suspected me to be doing backwater deals with other companies to try and shut down the one I worked for.

It helped that no one knew who I was, they didn't know that I had worked for them in Baggok, that I was a part of their first company. No, I was just another worker who could be cast aside like everyone else, forgotten by the very company I spent my life working for. Well I was going to make sure they never forgot who I was, I was going to make them remember my name even if I had to carve it into their PAKs.

The deals I made with the other companies left me with more cash than I could have dreamed for, but it still wasn't enough, my company was still working, and I wasn't going to stop unitl it had all burned to the ground.

The corporation was all but buried by the time I made it to CEO, and the final nail in the proverbial coffin was about to be hammered into their heads. But instead of destroy the last threads of business we still had going like I had planned, a new idea came to me.

Why destroy it? it would be so easy, to destroy this company, its what I had been working so hard to accomplish. I had already handed over secrets, lucrative deals to other companies, I even made sure our imported goods were supplied to other areas instead of our own. The things that would help our business were soon destroying it faster than I could have wished for.

But then again, the question remained, why destroy it?

I had money, and I was finally at the top, but how much further could I go? That's when I finally cornered our head of the company and offered him something he couldn't refuse; a way out.

I offered to buy the company from him, to save him from his debt, but with a catch: He would have to erase his name from every document claiming him to be the owner of ITSA. I wanted him to disappear from the company, from any records claiming he was the founder, all to make me the one who owned the entire business. I offered him an amount of money that was worth more than the business could make, and he disappeared without another word.

Once I was the official owner and all the correct documents were signed, I blackmailed all the other business's I had helped into giving me back part of their shares. I made them return the business's I had given to them and re-built the company from the ground up.

Soon I had taken over the other business's with my influence over the trading markets, and was able to bring back to life the original ITSA building in Baggok. Not long after that I had picked up Paeol from the island and we moved here to Irks capitol where I began another business, and grew this one up farther than the others.

Because of all that, I am the wealthiest man in Irks history, not including you my tallest."

Marvik smiled a knowing smile while Zim just sat there with his mouth hanging open, not in a million years thinking he would hear such a story from his goofy, well natured friend. Marvik had singlehandedly taken over a business with a lot of influence, and made it his own in just a short amount of time. He had torn it apart and re-built it into the large empire it is today.

To say Marvik got his revenge for his wife would be an understatement.

"This would explain why you like to donate a lot of your money to the poor, to the people who cannot afford the best healthcare and living services, am I right?"

Marvik chuckled at the question, finishing off the last of his drink before answering Zim. "I know first hand what it feels like to not have enough money, what its like to struggle. I have money now, and I like to help others as much as I can."

Zim nodded his understanding, "I'm glad to see owning a great business hasn't made you crazy with power, although I still don't understand why Paeol is the way she is. I can get that watching her mother die would make her angry, and I don't blame you for doing what you did, but why is she always looking for a way to gain more power?"

Marvik shook his head, a frown creasing his features, "That is something even I'm not fully sure about. The best I can guess is that she's looking for stability. If she gains enough revenue, enough money, she won't have to worry about never having any. Our situation wasn't the best, and she didn't start out with a happy beginning, but I fear she's creating a life that will never give her a happy ending. I truly believe she wants to find happiness, but I don't think she understands how to actually find it. So she latches onto anyone who strikes her fancy, but before she gives them a chance, she becomes uncertain and pulls away too quickly."

Huffing in disappointment Marvik took a bite of his food, "She's as stubborn as her mother, and beautiful to boot, but I worry that she's going to end up destroying any chance of her having happiness with the way things are going."

"I'm sorry for your loss by the way," Zim spoke as he listened to his friend rant about his daughter, "I can't imagine the pain that must have been like for you, I wish I could have helped."

"Had we known each other, I'm sure you would have offered, but I'm glad things turned out the way they did, because now I can help out others while working with you and all of your crazy ideas haha."

Zim smiled a genuine smile, "I'll drink to that, and speaking of crazy ideas, I have one that's sure to rock your world."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Marvik bellowed, his laughter echoing through the restaurant as he and Zim shared in their collective mirth.

The rest of the evening was spent with Marvik and Zim going over the new plans for infiltration of the slave traders headquarters, and the money Zim would need for the supplies, as well as informing Marvik of the insider idea.

Marvik agreed that an invader with the specific skills Zim spoke of would be able to pull the mission off, however, their equipment would be dented a bit if they tried anything too far in advance.

The slave traders would become suspicious of any new comers who had weaponry not allowed for citizen usage, they would need to go in low key, meaning downgraded weaponry. Plus the invader would have to be off the registry form for almost 2 years so the traders wouldn't see him in the system when they run a background scan.

Zim had already thought of that, and told Marvik of the invader he thought would be able to pull off the job and who met all the requirements.

"I like who you chose," Marvik said slowly as he stared at the files Zim pulled from his PAK, "But don't do anything rash until you've met him, make sure he meets your standards before you decide to send him underground. Have a backup read just in case this one doesn't work out."

Nodding in agreement, "I figured once I got a read on him I would make my decision, I'm not so full hardy as to send someone I don't know into a dangerous situation without first getting a feel for their mental state." Zim said it as if offended his friend didn't know that already.

"Yes but I also know you get ahead of yourself sometimes with your ideas," Marvik stated, pointing his fork in Zims direction. "Just make sure you think everything through before you do anything. I'm with you all the way in this, you know I'll back any and all of your crazy ideas, so long as they seem reasonable and won't end up exploding in either of our faces."

"Now that's something I'll drink to," Zim stated with a laugh, gulping down the rest of his beverage and continuing the evening on a happier note.

The prospect of seeing Dib later on didn't seem as daunting now that he was cheered up by his friend; wanting more than ever to mend the fences with the hybrid so they could return to their normal routine.

He didn't think he could go for too much longer without speaking to the Dib fish, and he hoped that the gift he acquired would help ease the tension when he finally got the nerve to apologize.

He just hoped everything would work out when he went home tonight.

Hopefully.


	13. Chapter 13

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 13: Making Amends**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter! And as a reward for me keeping you guys waiting for so long between updates, I'll be posting some extra chapters today and tomorrow as thanks for being patient. Read and review please! ^_^**

It was finally time to make amends, Zim had the gift in his hand, staring ahead at the door in front of him, but for some odd reason, he couldn't make his legs move forward or his arm to move to open the door.

He was frozen, just staring at the Dibs door as if it were a ferocious beast waiting to maul his face. He wanted to go in, wanted to apologize to the Dib for his earlier transgressions, but he feared the Dib's anger, feared the hybrid never wishing to speak to him again. He was losing his nerve and it was causing him to have a mini meltdown session.

It also didn't help that the foot drones moving through the hallway kept giving him odd looks whenever they passed him by. One even stopped to ask if he forgot where his room was again, to which Zim growled out a "NO", and the drone fled with a quick apology.

Zim only forgot where his room was three times in total, but every time the drones would see him walking in the hallways, just thinking, at least one of them would ask if he needed directions back to his room. It was highly embarrassing but nonetheless he knew they were just trying to help.

But now, now he needed to stop acting like a smeet and get this apology thing over with, the longer he stood there contemplating how the encounter would turn out, the less enthusiastic he would become.

Mentally preparing himself as much as he could, Zim steeled himself for the possible un-kind response waiting for him and pushed the door open enough to allow himself entrance into the hybrids room.

Since the entirety of the room had been soundproof for the convenience of the staff since Dib always played some type of music at the highest volume level, Zim hadn't realized upon entering the room that music was playing.

Dib had been teaching Zim about human music as compared to the Irken style rhythm Zim was used to listening to. The styles of music the humans had were eclectic and vast, what with all of the differing origins and instruments the humans could play. When Zim walked into the room, he was met with the blasting electric noise of sounds washing over him, vibrating his antenna enough for his body to quiver from the quaking tones of the song. It was one of Dibs favorites, if Zim remembered correctly, the song was called 'Electric Love' by the band 'BORNS'. The song definitely had a good rhythm, Zim got lost in the tune of the sounds, just standing in front of the doors as he looked out across the pool to the floating garden.

Relaxing and energetic at the same time, that's how the song made Zim feel, and he wondered if it seemed to have the same effect on the Dib.

Zim took a moment to just stare at the garden, not seeing Dib on his first scan across the top of the tank. 'He must be underwater,' Zim thought to himself as he began to near the edges of the tank, trying to peer inside the crystal clear water down towards the bottom.

Scanning past the bright leaves at the top of the tank, Zims eyes traveled around the water, looking for the Dibs bright white fins and colorful scales, trying to catch a glimpse of that pitch black hair inside the water.

The Irkens nerves were beginning to get the better of him, he was really close to the tank and he didn't even know if the Dib was in a friendly mood. He didn't even know if the hybrid would even want to speak to him. Just because the music was playing, that didn't automatically mean the Dib wanted any company, that could potentially mean he didn't want to be bothered.

As Dib had explained before that humans played music through varying degrees of emotions they felt during the day, the Dib could be portraying the wish to be alone instead of welcoming.

Zim was on his second scan of the water, still not seeing any sign of Dib when another thought occurred to him.

'He could be avoiding me,' Zim thought in dismay, feeling a frown crinkle the edges of his face as he looked towards the gift in his hand. He could leave it and return in the morning, maybe if he gave the Dib a day to himself, he would be more receptive to talking.

Avoidance on the hybrids part seemed to make more sense, since the hybrid could sense others in his room the moment they walked through the door. Scanning the inside of the pool one last time, Zim had made the decision to leave the gift and come back in the morning when a noise behind him made him turn.

Zim was still relatively close to the water when he heard the metallic feet on the floor approaching him at a fast pace, turning just in time to see bright blue eyes above him as the robot dove towards his head. A stupid grin was plastered on Girs face as he rocketed towards the Irken tallest, Zim looking like the proverbial 'deer caught in the headlights,' cursing himself for forgetting that Gir would also be in the room.

Not having enough time to brace for impact, Gir collided right into Zims chest just as Zim remembered another important piece of information his brain decided to hand him at the last minute before he splashed down into the lukewarm water of the hybrids tank.

HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM…

His body froze the minute he met the water, cursing internally for neglecting learning to swim during his military training, his thoughts at the time being, (when would I ever need to get into the water?). Now he knew how stupid he was back then, and how in trouble he was right now.

Clutching the gift to his chest with one hand, he started to try and move his legs into some sort of rhythm that would propel him upwards towards the surface so he could breathe. Not having the bright idea to inhale before hitting the water and began sinking.

Though the more he tried to kick, the more his robes began to bunch up around his legs, making the water around him create a storm of bubbles, limiting his sight and tiring himself out more.

Panic began to set in when his chest became tight, needing air and not finding the surface, although he didn't really know which direction to go for up. Being underwater, even in a pool, it was distorting his vision, and with his lack of air, his vison began to blur images together, making up and down look like swirls of color.

He was getting tired and his chest felt like it was about ready to burst. A small part of his brain that wasn't occupied with figuring out how to save his life was thanking the past gods that his Pak was waterproof and he wasn't frying himself to death. Though a quick death by electrocution would be preferable to the drowning sensation he was having at the moment, his body twisting in the tank in a desperate attempt to find air, though it seemed farther away the more he kicked. Darkness was closing in around his eyes, his body forcing him to inhale even though he knew there wasn't any air around him.

Even as the water filled his lungs, the last thought Zim had before the darkness in his eyes began to surround him was, 'I really wish I had learned how to swim'.

Dib had been asleep underneath a multitude of leaves when he heard splashing underneath the water, feeling the ripple of the waves against his gills, making his fins stand straight like a dogs ears perking to a new sound.

Dib was tempted to ignore it, waking slightly but figuring it was just Gir splashing around on the leaves, the robot seemed to like being in the water for some reason, even though it shorted out his circuits since he wasn't completely waterproof.

Lifting his head from the water to tell Gir to stop being so noisy, he saw the robot on the edge of the tank looking into the water, obviously staring at something below the surface. Dib was confused for a fraction of a second before he too looked down into the water.

Just past the leaves Dib saw the billowing robes of the Irken tallest floating lifeless in the middle of his tank, his eyes only barely opened to reveal liquid ruby beneath the grin lids.

Not sparing a moment to wonder how or why the Irken was in his tank, Dib shot off his leaves like a torpedo and was swimming towards Zim as if his life depended on it, feeling a sense of dread fill him when his antenna detected a faint heartbeat coming from the Irken.

How long Zim was in the tank was a mystery, but when the Irken made no reaction to Dib grabbing hold of his chest and arms to haul him to the surface, Dib started to fear that he came to Zims aid too late.

Dib swam to the surface without a second thought, only knowing he needed to get Zim to air, he needed to get him to breath before it really was too late.

The surface came towards them at an alarming rate but Dib wasn't anywhere near slowing down, rocketing out of the tank and sliding across the tiled floor of his room with Zim wrapped in his arms, making sure Dib took the brunt of the landing, not wanting to harm Zim any further.

They came to a stop just in front of Dibs I-Pad stand where Dib untangled himself from Zim and laid him on the floor, trying to keep his hands steady as he prepared to help the Irken.

Dibs whole body seemed to shake as he tried to check Zims vitals, feeling for a pulse at Zims neck but not getting a beat. His antenna stretched out atop his head, angling downwards to try and figure out where the pulse point would be on an Irkens body.

Cursing himself for not looking at the anatomy books Gidget had brought him earlier, Dib figured to just start CPR the human way, since he was already wasting time and right now, Zim wasn't breathing.

He could only pray that it would work.

Without missing a beat, Dib started to compress down on Zims chest, counting to 15 before bending to place his mouth over Zims and forcing air into him, hoping it would work considering Zim didn't really have a nose he could close.

His thoughts started to scatter when after doing this a third time he didn't see any results, feeling a sickening panic swell inside his chest at knowing he was too late to save Zim. Of knowing the Irken drowned in his tank while he was sleeping!

It was on the fifth compression that tears began to well up in Dibs eyes as he became frantic, trying to save Zims life but not even sure what he was doing was even working.

"Come on Zim," Dib began to babble, compressing even harder down onto Zims chest, looking into those red eyes and trying to see a spark of life. "Don't you dare die on me, you've made me cry twice today and if you die I'm seriously not going to forgive you for it."

The tears were falling down his cheeks and landing on Zims robes while he continued to compress, feeling the power begin to leave his limbs, as he forced air into Zim again.

Not aware that his antenna were surging with his emotions, electricity had built up inside of him, and once his lips came down onto Zims, the electricity burst forth, encompassing Zims body in a torrent of shockwaves.

Dib reared back in shock at realizing he had just electrocuted Zim, but once Zims body stopped convulsing, the Irken began to hack up the water, turning onto his side to make sure he got all of it out while Dib clutched at his own chest to try and still his frantically beating heart.

Through all of the commotion and fear and anxiety Dib was feeling, the fact that electricity brought Zim back to life seemed to be what his brain wanted to replay over and over again.

"Shit!" Zim wheezed out once he was done coughing, his throat burning as his chest heaved to try and gain all of the oxygen he had lost. "I seriously thought I was going to die!"

Laying back down onto the tiled floor, it took some effort for Zim to turn and face Dib, who seemed a little red in the face.

"What the heck were you thinking!?" Dib finally exploded, anger coloring his voice as his anxiety and fear of Zim dying was replaced by anger now that he knew Zim was safe and not in-fact, dead.

"If you didn't know how to swim then what were you thinking getting into the water!? You almost died! Do you even understand that had I been any later in getting to you, you would be dead right now!?"

Dib was huffing as he stared at Zims blatantly shocked face, looking into those ruby speckled optics as if searching for the answers.

"I came to apologize," Zim stated softly, looking off to the side and away from the hybrid, feeling warmth spread out onto his cheeks at being chastised for not knowing how to swim and almost dying.

Though technically, if the readings on his Pak were correct, he was dead for almost 4 minutes before he was brought back to life from that rather violent electric shock.

But he wasn't going to say that to Dib, he already felt like a smeet, no need to make his scolding worse by telling Dib he was in fact dead.

Dib was taken aback by that remark, losing his anger almost immediately as he looked down at the soaking wet Zim laying before him, noticing for the first time how slender Zim actually was. His robes clung to his body heavy with water, those black antenna lay limp on the floor as if he were exhausted.

"Why the heck did you get into the water then?" Dib asked as he settled by Zims side, feeling his own cheeks flush with color when he helped Zim to sit up, feeling the smooth green skin of the Irkens hand as it gripped his shoulder, giving Zim leverage to pull himself up while Dib used his own hands to push Zim against the I-Pad stand so he had something to lean against.

"I didn't get into the water for fun," Zim chastised, sarcasm creeping into his voice as he started to become more himself. "That robot of yours leapt at me and I didn't have time to do anything more than look up before I was in the water."

"And I **tried** to swim." Zim added as an afterthought, feeling the need to stick up for his lack of knowledge in the swimming department.

"It obviously didn't help," Dib shot back, feeling his anger creeping back up his skin, "I think you managed to swim yourself closer to the bottom instead of up, I'd get your directional systems checked because that's seriously messed up."

It didn't help matters in becoming mad, but knowing that Gir was to blame for why and how Zim landed in the water, Dib didn't really know what to say, so instead he lashed out at Zim.

Really he needed to stop acting like a brat when in front of Zim and start taking responsibility for his actions, just like earlier when he had been yelled at by the very same individual in front of him now for playing with dangerous weaponry in the confines of his room.

In reality, Dib was more mad at himself for being a jerk, and for not turning Gir off for the night like he had planned. Had he done that, maybe this whole mess wouldn't have happened.

Zim just rolled his eyes at the statement, too tired to argue and really looking forward to getting out of his soaking wet clothes that were now making him shiver and into his own resting chamber so he could forget about the whole ordeal.

"Look, I didn't mean to intrude or to ruin your night, I know you don't like me right now but I wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior." Zim watched as Dibs eyes widened to his statement, the hybrid preparing to speak but Zim cut him off before a word could be spoken. "I shouldn't have yelled at you or at Gidget, there were better ways to say what I needed to say and I let my stress from my work influence how my anger came out. For that I am sorry, I meant to leave this here for you and come back in the morning when I couldn't find you right away, but Gir being psychotic and all, here we are."

With that he placed the bag holding the gift inside down onto the floor in front of Dib, to which the hybrid seemed only capable of staring at with his mouth hanging open.

Just from the colors of the bag to what was left of the tissue paper on the inside, it was apparent Zim had gotten him a gift.

Dib felt a horrible twinge inside of himself, Zim had gotten him a gift and he had just called Zim an idiot right to his face, for lack of a better word. And Zim thought Dib didn't like him, which he couldn't be any more wrong about. If anything Dib thought Zim didn't want to see him! He had prepared himself for an early night, regretful of what had happened earlier and thinking of possible ways to apologize.

He hadn't even considered that Zim would be thinking along the same lines, it made him feel even worse for yelling at Zim, who he had just saved from drowning! He just was not having a good day was he?

Zim was trying to get a good grip on the I-Pad stand, going to push himself into a standing position but his legs seemed to choose that moment to decide they were too wobbly for correct operational use.

Staying seated on the floor, Zim was considering calling one of his nighttime staff personnel to come help him to his room when he noticed Dib reaching for the gift.

Zim tried not to be self-conscious about it, but he had never bought a gift for anyone before, and knowing Dib was going to open it up in front of him while they had just argued, it made Zim the teensiest bit nervous to how the results would transpire.

Worst case scenario being Dib would chuck the gift and tell Zim to never come back to his room again. Or Dib could end up being offended by Zim notions of a gift fixing his earlier mistake, and that maybe what he offered wasn't enough. Anything that could result in Zim feeling worse about the situation was playing in his mind, so when Dib began to lift the orb from the bag Zim felt his body tense, even though he was trying to remain calm.

He didn't understand why he was acting like this, he had never cared before what people thought of him, but for some reason Dib's opinion mattered. He didn't want to see the hybrid mad, if anything, he hoped the gift would be something that could help Dib open up more, since the orb could hold memories from the individual touching it.

Dib held the orb in his hand, just staring at it, contemplating its use and trying not to seem too confused by it. He didn't want Zim thinking he didn't like it, but…. He couldn't figure out what it was.

Dib looked up to Zim, finding the Irken staring at him. "Umm… I… thank you for getting this for me but," Dib turned the orb around in his hand again, watching the lights glimmer off of the surface. "Is it an ornament or something? Because, and don't take any offense I do appreciate you getting me a gift I just don't understand…."

That's when the lights inside the orb started to dance around inside the ball, taking on the formation of an exploding galaxy, stars littering the surface and producing the natural green glow of a sun in the distance of the universe. A planet in view became clearer as Dib focused on it, showing animals on its surface that Dib couldn't even imagine the name of. The display was fascinating, and when the scenery changed to another universe with even more colors and stars, Dib felt his emotions stirring in his chest.

Zim got me such a beautiful gift, and I was a complete jerk to him just now.

But another emotion was welling inside of Dib, something he had only felt once before. Even during his time at the lab, he had only felt this emotion once when his mother had gotten him a gift for his day of creation. It was a small gift, being only a pen, but it was special because it was made specially for him. His webbed hands were always slippery, so gripping the pens around the office when he was learning to write became frustrating and almost impossible to do. His mother, (though he didn't know it at the time), learned of his frustrations and had a pen made with an easy grip cover that was water proof, so he could use it and it wouldn't slip out of his hands.

His name was even engraved on the surface, so it meant it belonged specifically to him. He was so proud of that pen, and the emotions in him at that time were the same as now, he felt almost special to someone, and it made him so incredibly happy.

Still staring at the orb, Dib watched as the colors changed once again, only to turn into… a picture of his mother!

Dib nearly dropped the orb as he gasped in shock at seeing his mother smile back at him, as if she were still alive, just living inside of the orb.

"Wha-! How? How is it doing that!?" Dib screeched, holding the orb tightly as he looked into Zims eyes, wanting an explanation for something so… impossible.

Zim jumped when Dib yelled, staring at the orb himself to watch it turn into a female human who shared a stunning resemblance to the Dib.

'Must be his mother', Zim thought, holding his hands up to try and calm Dib down so he could explain. "The orb can show images of almost anything you wish to see, but it can also input memories so the holder can watch a glimpse of their past. I'm not sure how they are created, but I figured this would be something you would like so you wouldn't get homesick." Smiling sheepishly Zim added, "I didn't even know if it would work for you if I'm being honest, since the orb was created by Irkens, I feared that when the galaxies didn't appear right away, it was because you are of human descent. I'm glad it works, but just for future reference's sake, it will input any memory you have into its system to be replayed, but they cannot be taken off of the orb. I'd advise not letting others touch the orb if you input memories that are private and wish to keep for yourself."

Dib let all that information sink in, feeling happiness swell even more inside of his chest at realizing he could put memories of his mother inside of the orb so he could constantly look at her, to see her smiling at him like she always did whenever she would visit. It had him gripping the orb tighter as more and more images flashed across the surface, taking into their storage any and all the memories Dib wanted it to have.

Zim was glad his gift could create such a smile on the hybrids face, and he felt a small sense of pride for picking out something the Dib creature could use inside of the water as well.

"Thank you," The serious tone of the hybrid caught Zim off guard, the Irken gave the Dib a sideways glance. "I don't deserve this gift, I was a complete and utter jerk just a moment ago and here you are apologizing for scolding me earlier when I was also in the wrong." Dib looked away, ashamed of his actions but feeling better now that he was getting it all out and into the open.

"We were both in the wrong earlier," Zim corrected, giving Dib a stare of his own. "I'm not going to say you weren't wrong for playing with dangerous machinery, but as I said earlier, this is my apology for yelling at you. I should have handled it better and I didn't."

"But, This gift must have been expensive, and I didn't get you anything in return… I don't think it's a fair trade of apologies." Dib explained as best he could how he felt, but Zim just shook his head.

"I need no gift from you, it was my decision to get you something, it wasn't an obligation, you should feel no need to repay the favor."

It was said matter of factly, but Dib still shook his head, wanting to repay the favor for being a poor excuse for a housemate. He felt so bad about everything he had done, for how he acted, and for what he had just said to Zim.

Granted a lot of it was nerves, but now he kind of knew how Zim felt this morning. Zim was a leader, a very powerful leader that took care of his planet and his people. He had to be an adult, whereas Dib still remained a stubborn teen who couldn't handle being scolded.

Dib was the one who needed to apologize, and repay Zim for his gift. It was a very awesome gift he knew he wouldn't ever trade for anything, but he had to do something for Zim, but what?

He had no money to speak of, and until they got his transportation down into something that seemed like a good idea, he couldn't just go to the convenience store and get Zim a card, which brought him straight back to having no money. So how would he even be able to pay for a card?

Looking over at the Irken again, Dib got hit with an idea when he noticed the wet robes and the crumpled way Zim seemed to curl into himself.

'He doesn't know how to swim, so what if I taught him?' The idea came out of nowhere, but now that he thought about it, it seemed like the right thing to do. If Zim ever found himself in a situation like that ever again and for whatever reason Dib couldn't get to him, it would be a good ability to fall back on.

This way if Zim ever wanted to get into the water, he would be able to instead of having to decline.

"How about I teach you how to swim? Instead of me getting you a gift, since you know I cant really leave the tower, what if I taught you how to survive in the water in case you ever fall in again?"

Zims antenna perked at that, turning to face Dib from his earlier musings of figuring out how he was going to get back to his room. His legs seemed to be on the more stable side since they weren't shaking so much, but after all the commotion he just felt tired and drained.

He felt more alert now that Dib seemed to be in a better mood.

Cocking his head to the side, "You want to teach me how to swim? How?" Zim felt he needed to ask, it just seemed too far- fetched that Dib would want to teach him how to swim inside his own tank… right?

Dib gave him a dumb look before responding, "Right here in my tank, how else would I teach you to swim?"

Zim felt like hitting himself on the head for that one. Of course Dib would be willing to teach him since he wants to repay him back for the gift he gave to the hybrid. He just didn't think the Dib would be open to having guests in his room so early after moving in. No doubt he was still wary of other people, but maybe this was a step forward to actually having a good relationship with the hybrid. Maybe he was finally willing to open up…. Maybe.

He wasn't going to put too much stock into that hope, but if Dib was willing to teach him, who was he to refuse?

"And I'm sorry by the way," Dib continued, feeling like he needed to grow up at some point, Zim couldn't be the only adult around here. "I never apologized this morning for causing you trouble, and when I should have said it earlier, I ended up yelling at you."

Twiddling his fingers together Dib tried to keep himself composed, but he really didn't know how to apologize properly, he just never had to apologize before for anything he did back on earth.

That was going to change now.

It was still awkward as hell, but at least he knew Zim was in the same boat, the Irken tallest didn't seem too adept at apologies either, but who was he to judge?

"I'll accept your offer, but let's do it tomorrow, the teaching thing, I just really need to get some sleep, and try to remember all of the work I need to do after were done." Zim said as he got a good grip on the stand this time and pushed himself up to an upright position.

"You'll let me teach you how to swim?" Dib asked in disbelief, part of him thinking Zim would turn him down since he's been too busy lately for anything. Not that he wanted Zim to decline, but he had stopped getting his hopes up when Zim stopped coming around as much as he used to.

"Of course, a good time away from the work bench might help me think a little clearer about what I'm going to do with my latest plan. Just promise me you won't let that psychotic robot push me into the pool again, and that I won't drown in any horrible, unsightly way, and you can teach me how to swim." Zim said it with a serious face but Dib could see the mirth behind his eyes.

"Of course, Gir won't be anywhere near you, I will, so you have a lot more to worry about considering you won't get the opportunity to deal with the psychotic robot." A devilish smile broke out across Dibs face when he saw Zims own smile falter.

"Now you're the one I'm scared of." Zim confessed, "But you did save my life, so I guess for now I think I'm lucky to have you as my teacher."

They smiled one last time at each other before separating for the night, Zim giving a final wave of decent before heading to his own room to fall onto his sleeping pod and into a restless slumber.

 **Hey guys, can anyone guess whats going to happen in the next chapter? More mushy goodness on its way. This portion of the chapter felt a little rushed but I'm trying to get us to the good parts. Let me know what you guys think ^_^ Thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 14: A strange Dream**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Hope you guys like this new chapter! Read and review ^_^**

It felt like I was floating inside something warm, water maybe? It was surrounding my body, is surrounding my body. I feel weightless and comforted. Something was moving in my arms, was I holding something?

The something was soft, cool to the touch, as weightless as the water I was surrounded in. But why couldn't I see its face? Colors were shifting around me, a pale hand caressing my arm, a white fin moving just below my feet, black ebony hair moving in and out of my vision. I knew who this was, but why couldn't I put a face to him, and when did I get back into the water?

The currents were moving around us, his long tail propelling us through the water at a graceful speed. My arms seemed to wrap around him instinctually, pressing him closer to my body as we continued to move. Suddenly the wall of his tank was against my back, and finally I could see his face. Those bright gold and silver eyes staring at me in a way I had never seen before, it made my chest give a painful ache and my stomach to twist uncomfortably.

He moved closer to me, simultaneously wrapping his tail around my legs while his hands pinned my arms to my sides, making me completely immobile.

I don't know why I wasn't scared, maybe it was the look he was giving me, the warmth radiating between us as he moved into my personal space, and why I could breathe underwater still confused me. His eyes were captivating, even as he held me against the wall, even though I knew he could kill me so easily, an urge overtook me.

An urge I had never felt before.

He seemed to have the same urge because before I knew what was happening, his lips were on mine. They were soft, warm, completely different from the hard kiss he was forcing onto me, the desperation that seemed to roll off of the way he tackled my mouth. But I wasn't complaining, on the contrary I was participating in kind to the hard kiss, just as desperate for touch as he was.

His tongue delved into my mouth, running over my teeth and across my own oral muscle, coaxing it to play with us. His breathy moans being sucked into my lungs as I returned each stimulating vocalization with one of my own.

I wanted to move my hands, to touch more of him, but he seemed to have power in that regard. His tail wrapped tighter around my legs, he let go of my arms to slash his claws down the front of my robe, tearing the material in half and moving his hands inside and over my chest. Feeling his way over the surface and around to my back, digging his claws into my shoulder blades as he ground his hips into mine.

A groan slipped from between my lips as he bore his hips down on me again, forcing friction between our bodies. I could feel something between our hips, something hard, he chuckled into my antenna when I groaned out in abject pleasure to him pressing down on the instrument inside my robes, caught between our bodies.

Our eyes locked again, his tantalizing smile making me quiver in his arms before he spoke out the words that made me lose it.

"I wanna eat you." He said it with such a look, one that had to be more lustful than any god of love could conjure.

He leant in and bit my neck hard, making me yelp out in pain until…..

Zim woke on his resting pod, panting and sweating, his hand covering his neck where he thought he had been bitten. Something falling into his lap had him looking down in confusion. 'Nothing should be in my room,' Zim thought to himself, but when his eyes caught the bright blue synthetic eyes of the psychotic robot Gir, looking at him with the biggest smile he could muster, drool dripping down his own face, Zim literally exploded.

"AHH! Get out of my room you crazy robot!" Zim yelled, jumping from his own pod and into the corner where he grabbed his old ray gun, holding it out in front of himself so that the robot would take the hint.

He didn't believe it would shoot anymore, he had neglected to clean it so often that the damn thing was probably jammed, but if it scared the robot out of his room, he would use it.

"Awwww, But I wanted to eat you taco mannnn" Gir whined, getting off of the pod and heading for the door. "By by taco!" Gir yelled before leaving the room, the door wooshing shut on his way out.

Zim just stood there for a few minutes, completely stunned by the robots antics, rubbing his neck to try and sooth the literal bite mark that was left there. "Great Irk why couldn't he be a bad nightmare that would go away when I woke up in the morning," Zim asked himself, placing his ray gun back onto its stand and heading back towards his pod, flopping onto his back while looking up at his ceiling.

'Why the heck did Dib have to make that stupid thing?' a bright pink blush spread out onto Zims face when his thoughts ran back to Dib and that dream he had just had, it made him sit up with a jolt, his hand coming around to clasp onto his mouth. His eyes were wide with panic, 'why did I have that dream? Why the heck did it happen? What am I going to say to Dib? Should I tell him?'

Too many questions, he had too many questions and no real way to answer them. "Something must be wrong with me right? I mean I've never had a dream like that before, that can't be normal."

Just touching his lips alone was making him flush more, the dream had felt so real, so intense, and the thing between his legs….

Zim looked down absently, just now realizing that the hard object he had in his dreams was gone, but there was an odd wet stain on his robes directly over the area he had felt covering the object.

"What was that thing?" Zim questioned himself, wondering if his body had somehow contracted an illness that made him hallucinate and have weird dreams.

Not being able to stand it anymore, Zim jumped from his bed and got on his personal communications line with the medic drone who lived inside the tower. He didn't trust himself to leave his room yet, plus he didn't really like the medic drone, she was cranky, mean, and never ceased to call him some jeering name in an attempt to make fun of him.

Plus she was kind of scary and he was afraid of her, but that was beside the point.

Sitting in front of the call screen the line rang twice before he saw the medic drones face pop up into view, already dressed for the day and sipping some weird concoction she liked to create. Her excuse for the weird smells in the morning based on those concoctions was that they kept her young. He believed they kept her young, but he would never drink them solely because they smelled like rotting vermin cooked and boiled inside sewer water.

"Really Zim? I haven't even had my vitamins yet and your already calling me at this ungodly hour? I hope to Irk this isn't one of your health scares again, past tallest know I will hit you directly over the head if you try to tell me a beetle crawled under your skin and laid eggs in your eyes again. Or that you think the reason you can't stay awake is because your PAK is malfunctioning and you think the minute you close your eyes someone's going to eat your brain, when you and I both know that you tried to stay awake for a whole week reading through the archives and didn't want to go to sleep."

Zim had his hands over his eyes, really trying not to yell at the medic but seriously unimpressed with her early morning scathing remarks. He couldn't help it that he was minor-ly paranoid, but he had a real issue this time.

"Its good to see you this early morning too Bellas, might I add your as charming as ever, I couldn't think of another reason why I wouldn't want to call you today other than to just hear your voice." Zim let the sarcasm drip from his tone, obviously not pleased and wanting to make it clear to Bellas that her remark wasn't funny.

She laughed anyway, her scratchy voice grating on his already frayed nerves. "Well I can only guess that you're calling me over another health scare because you clearly don't look sick and well, let's face it, you don't just call me to say hi."

Zim rolled his eyes but let his anger cool for the moment, this time he really did think something was wrong, it had never happened to him before, it greatly concerned him.

Bellas must have noticed his look and set her mirth aside to speak with him normally, it might be the 100th I'm sick theory he could give her that could actually lead to him really being sick. She didn't want to deter him from saying anything if she made fun of him too much.

"Just tell me what's wrong Zim," Bellas commanded, not having patience enough to wait for him to get his nerve to tell her.

"Well, it's just," Zim floundered for a moment, not really knowing how to say it. "I had this weird dream, and it uh, it made something happen to me, but I don't really understand what happened, or why I had the dream in the first place."

Bellas raised an eyebrow at him, "Can you explain the dream to me Zim? I don't really have much to go off of besides the dream making you feel weird."

The blush rising to Zims cheeks had Bellas raising both of her eyebrows, intrigued now in what could be making Zim react the way he was.

"I- I was swimming with someone, and we were, um, I was against a wall and, uuhh, we were really close together, and we were touching, and- and- I don't really know why but something happened to me, something between my legs, I don't know what it is, I don't understand what we were doing. I'm worried I've contracted an illness that's making me go crazy."

Zim was leaning on the table, his hands shaking while he told Bellas about his dream, afraid of what she would tell him.

He really wasn't expecting her to laugh at him.

Or for her to give him a (really are you that dumb?) stare.

"Zim, please don't tell me that was your first wet dream," Bellas said with a hint of doubt in her voice.

"I've never had a dream like this before," Zim said a little shaken, "What is a wet dream?"

Bellas lost her mirth almost completely, "Zim, I'm going to ask you a very serious question and I don't want you to lie to me. Have you ever, since Irkens were allowed to start breeding naturally, taken a sex education class?" Zim cocked his head to the side, I've never heard of one being offered for me to take." He answered it honestly, but it only made Bellas shake her head.

"I know your one of the last remaining cloned Irkens Zim, but tell me you've wondered how all the new Irkens are popping up now that all the cloning pods have been shut down?"

"None of that knowledge seemed relevant at the time, when the pods were shut down, I was still in the war for Irk, we weren't given any other education than how to fight. When I came back I started running for tallest, and after I won I started ruling."

That seemed to sum it up nicely for Bellas, but another piece of knowledge stuck out to her. "You know everyone's talking about your perceived engagement to Paeol in the future, how exactly did you see that working out with her if you know nothing about sex?"

Zim scowled at the mention of Paeol, "I have no interest in becoming mates with her, I'd rather rip out my own antenna than stay in the same room with her for more than a day."

"Ok so you hate Paeol, I get it, but do you know what becoming mates means? How reproduction works now?"

"Didn't I already answer that by saying I had no idea knowledge like that was even offered? How am I even supposed to wonder about something when all I've seen so far in the inside of my tower?"

"Well," Bellas started, "You knew what kissing was, I mean you were doing it with the other person in your dream, that's part of mating, and I know you know Irkens in general can take mates and reproduce, but… you don't know about the rest of it? Like the specifics of how mating works or why you became hard or what happened to it after you woke up?"

"No, I don't." Zim felt slightly ashamed he didn't know what was going on, assuming now that this was common knowledge he should have been privy too, just never was. "Is what I'm going through normal?"

Bellas gave a small chuckle at that question, realizing now that she would have to be the one to explain sex ed. to her tallest. "Yes Zim, this is all natural, a wet dream just symbolizes you are coming into your sexual prime based off of a stimulus you find arousing. It's nothing bad and sometimes the dream helps you finish what your body has started, like the wet spot on your robe. But I'm going to have to give you an informational video to help you understand what's going on and how to deal with it, since you're a little late in the game. You must watch the whole video, and if you have any questions you can always call me to ask, OK?"

Zim felt a little relieved he wouldn't be hearing about reproduction from Bellas herself, but he didn't really get why his body was acting like this now after so long of it never happening.

"Should I tell the other person about my…. wet dream?" Zim asked, stumbling over the words, they felt weird in his mouth.

"Absolutely not!" Bellas nearly shouted. "You keep that kind of information to yourself! Do you understand me? Unless you know without a doubt that this person is receptive to you on an intimate level, you do not want to tell them you were having naughty dreams about them! That could ruin your whole relationship with that person! And you have to figure out if you feel as though you could be intimate with that person. A wet dream happens all the time, but unless you feel as though you want a relationship with that person, you go about your day as normal and you never reveal who your dream was about. Why, if I told half the people I've had wet dreams about, I think I'd be sued for sure."

Zim just nodded mutely, glad he wouldn't have to share this information with the Dib, he didn't want to ruin his relationship with the hybrid over a stupid dream that was considered normal and to be kept private.

Bellas helped Zim download the video from her private files, and then was offline, still shaking her head at the whole situation. Tallest Zim was finally hitting his proverbial puberty, even though she knew Zim was a few years older than herself, she wasn't a clone like him and therefore had access to sex education.

What she couldn't stop herself from wondering as she went back to her drink was, 'who was he having a wet dream about?' if it definitely wasn't Paeol, then it had to be someone completely captivating for Zim to start thinking about sex.

Although his body might be doing all the thinking at this rate, not so much his own head, Bellas just hoped everything would work out OK in the end.

 **Back in Zims room 3 hours later:**

Even though the video was only 30 minutes long, Zim felt the need to re-watch it over and over again just so he could get past the disbelief. Irkens really did all of this just to have intercourse? It seemed messy, hard, like it hurts a lot, and just unneeded. Even Zim felt a twinge of disgust when he listened to the professional in the video explain where his (male organ) was supposed to go inside of a (females organ), he just couldn't get past it all. There were also different types of sexual stimulation that didn't include having the male and female organs touching, but they were explained as oral stimulation, which meant they had to use their mouths…. The whole video had Zim blushing profusely. Zim himself had never even known he had a male organ to begin with, which was part of the reason why he never wanted or tried to learn about sex. He was a clone after all, they were created so that reproduction wasn't something they needed to do. Of course he knew about other species and how they reproduced, but he never imagined it would be so similar to how his own species reproduced, let alone that even he, a clone, could be capable of doing it.

Looking down at his now stained robe, Zim wondered what his male organ looked like, if it would come back out of its sheath against his will again or if he could control it.

Knowing now that his organ lay resting dormant inside of his body, only to come out when provided the necessary stimulations.

He needed to get changed, so looking at himself seemed like something he should do now that he was provided new knowledge that could potentially change his life should he decide to become, what were the words they used… sexually active?

Getting undressed and staring in a mirror at himself never seemed as nerve wracking as it did now, now that he was doing it with the purpose of looking at his male organ, or the opening where his organ lay dormant.

Shifting out of his robes, Zim let the materials fall to the floor in a heap, keeping his eyes glued to the mirror in front of him.

He let his eyes roam over his body, over the scars that littered the area, another reason why he never thought about mating, his battle wounds were vast and many, they were sure to turn anyone's eyes away from him if they saw.

But those weren't what he wanted to see, and as his eyes roamed lower, down to the joint between his legs, he finally saw the small slit adorning his skin, looking much like one of his many scars.

'That must be why I never noticed it before', Zim thought to himself as he continued to stare at it, not as awkward about it now than he was before. 'But how do you get the organ to come out?' he wondered absently, lightly touching the area with his finger, seeing if the skin would part.

Just brushing his claws over the exposed area made his skin pulse with shivers, the gentle touch causing his thighs to twitch.

Zim withdrew his hand quickly, not licking how fast his body responded to the light stimulations, even though he was just curious, he really didn't want his organ popping out right now.

The video was sufficient in providing him information on masturbation, but thinking about the video only made him shiver uncomfortably. He didn't want to deal with his body, he didn't even know how to deal with what was going on right now.

So what if he was a little late to the game when it came to sex, it was never something that he thought about. Figuring out now that his body was coming into its sexual prime based on the creature he housed next door to his room, it frightened him. What was he supposed to do if his organ came out again and Dib was there?! He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he caused the hybrid anymore pain or made him uncomfortable.

Hell, even Zim himself was uncomfortable, afraid to leave his own room in the event that his organ would pop out randomly; like it had a mind of its own or something like that.

Maybe he should just go see the medic drone in her office, she would be able to give him more helpful tips about this sort of thing since she was of natural birth. Although he was a bit reluctant to go to her now that he actually knew what the problem was about. It made him embarrassed all over again to know what his body was doing to him.

But he couldn't risk the disadvantage he had of not knowing what could happen to him should he not take precautionary measures.

"Maybe I should cancel the swimming lesson for today," Zim mumbled to himself, scratching the back of his head while he thought of what he was going to do. He didn't want to be around the hybrid at all today until he could figure out his own body, but on the flipside he didn't want to just ignore and avoid the hybrid, Dib would certainly be upset should he do that.

"Guess I have no choice," he grumbled as he stood from his pod, changing into a new set of robes quickly before heading out his door, he was going to talk with Bellas about this. And hopefully she would have more answers to give him instead of another video.

 **Meanwhile, in Dibs room:**

"He's late," Dib spoke calmly, yet the hostility in his voice didn't get past Gidget as they worked together trying to fix Girs command drive. Dib was staring absently at the clock on the wall of his room, watching the hours tick by as he waited for Zim to arrive to their swimming lessons. They had agreed on mid- afternoon for the lessons to begin, and it was well past 1pm.

Gidget threw Dib a look before rolling her eyes, "he might have gotten busy with work you know, he is the tallest and all that. Besides, he's only an hour late, there was a meeting one time which included all of the nobility of Irk, very big meeting, was all over the news. The tallest, which is Zim as you know, had had such a long day of trying to fix the pipeline problem they were having in a city just outside of Irks capitol that when Zim finally arrived back at the tower, he was exhausted. He figured he'd catch a quick nap before the meeting was supposed to start, and ended up sleeping threw the entire thing." The nobility were pretty pissed off, "Gidget chuckled absently at the memory, recalling her tallest running through the tower as he tried to get to the main communication line so he could formally apologize to the people for his absence.

"He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but the day had been long for him nonetheless; though he was able to fix the pipeline problem, I think that's what got him out of being in trouble for too long."

Gidget gave Dib a lopsided grin, "Zim's a people pleaser, always has been and probably always will be, he just doesn't know how to say no to work. It's a blessing and a curse all at the same time, he'll devote himself to a project even if it means he won't have any spare free time for himself." Closing the port on Gir's back and turning on the rambunctious robot Gidget added, "Just give the guy a bit of a break, he has sort of been working his butt off with his latest project, he'll be here soon, Zim's not one to break a date."

Dib wanted to argue, but he knew just as well as Gidget that Zim was busy, he just couldn't make himself unable to be upset at the idea. Zim and he had sort of made up the other day, both apologizing for their arguments towards one another. He didn't think there was anything Zim could still be upset over, he would have brought it up while they were talking, right?

"Hey," Gidget called, looking at the face Dib was making, "Stop moping and help me figure out what's wrong with your robot! I'm basically doing all the work while your just sitting there looking like you just got stood up."

Dibs face erupted into a blush at that exclamation, dropping the spare hard-drive he was trying to put inside the robot onto the floor and cursing when a part of it cracked. "I do not look like I've been stood up!" Dib tried to defend, though he couldn't admit that he was a just a little disappointed that Zim was late. Every time Zim and Dib made plans to meet up or hang out within the tower, Zim was almost always on time or a little early. It all had to do with his internal alarm his Pak provided. If he became late for anything, the alarm would remind him again and again until he shut it off. Zim said it was kind of annoying but he programmed it that way so he wouldn't be late to anything or forget anything.

Knowing this, Dib became just a tad discouraged. Of course it was possible that Zim had become busy with other things, but in all honesty, Dib just worried that he had hurt Zims feeling the day before during their argument, and Zim was avoiding him for it.

Gidget wasn't going to let him stew on that idea, the small female mechanic was pretty adamant that Zim was going to be here soon, so he resigned himself to his work, muttering angrily when Gidget told him he looked like a kicked puppy, jamming the wires into Gir's port a little harder than necessary when Gidget laughed at him every time she made a reference to his (date) with Zim.

Dib knew Gidget was just trying to cheer him up, and the small smile that worked its way onto his lips told him that her plan was working, too bad his mood soured instantly when he looked back up to the clock to see it was already 2:35pm.

His scales bristled in annoyance, lifting from his skin to show off their red undersides, the sleek top coat shining menacingly in the light of his room, just proving again how sharp the tinny instruments were.

"He's 2 and a half hours late now," Dib said with a little more anger in his voice than he intended, not being able to take his eyes off of the clock as he watched the minutes tick by.

Gidget was about to retort, to tell Dib to cool his jets when the door to the room opened and Zim himself made his appearance, striding into the room part of the way until he caught sight of Dib and Gidget at the small table they had set up to work on the robot.

Gidget saw Zim eye the robot warily and had to work to repress her smile. No doubt Zim was the taco man Gir had been rambling on about this morning; she just decided to keep that bit of information to herself for the moment.

Turning her eyes away from Zim to look back at Dib, she couldn't keep the smile from her face when she saw the complete 360 Dibs mood had taken. His scales were no longer lifted in irritation and his eyes seemed a lot brighter. Plus, the huge grin he sported told Gidget all she needed to know.

Once Zim made his way over to their makeshift work area Gidget decided it was time to make herself scarce. "I guess it's time for me to leave, Dib just give me a call when you guys are done and let me know if you want to work on Gir again later, he's going to need a new command drive if we're ever going to have him obeying orders." She said it as she stood, offering a small wave of goodbye to Dib even though she didn't think he was really listening to her, his body language telling her he wanted time with Zim.

She slipped out the door quickly, a grin eating its way through her face as she made her way back to her room.

Dib couldn't help the relief that washed through him when he saw Zim entering his room, his mood immediately uplifting for the briefest of moments before he soured his expression when Zim sat in front of him, nit willing to let the Irken off the hook just yet.

"You do realize your late right?" Dib let his tone turn accusatory, fitting Zim with a hard stare as he watched the Irken fidget under his gaze.

For a split second Zim looked…odd, like he was trying to hide himself inside his robes, curling up his legs and wrapping his arms around his knees when he pulled them to his chest. His expression changed back to his normal blank look after a minute of contemplating Dibs remark.

"I was busy this morning," Zim said with a wave of his hand, though his voice sounded strained. "I had to make a few calls and then visit with one of the residents in the tower to have a consult, I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to make it to our arrangement in time." He offered a smile but it didn't reach his eyes, rather, he looked like he was trying to solve a very hard puzzle inside his own head while trying to look normal.

Suddenly Dib felt bad, maybe Zim really was busy, maybe even too busy to do their lessons today. It would explain the distant look that kept coming to Zims face, like he was trying to be anywhere but here, only staying because he had promised Dib.

Looking down at his own hands and playing with the webbing between his fingers Dib relented, "If you're too busy today, we could always do this another time." Dib tried to not sound upset but he just couldn't stop the disappointed feeling from squeezing his chest. He didn't want to keep Zim here just to appease himself, especially if the Irken had some major work to do.

Zims eyes snapped forward to land on the hybrid, his form going ridged when he saw the discomfort in Dibs eyes, automatically feeling bad but unsure how to go about doing their swimming lesson without outwardly touching him.

The medic had explained to him, in more detail than he would have liked, how mating between species worked. Sure the video had been helpful, but Bellas introduced him to the online world, where explanations about sex turned into videos of people having sex, and then into explicit videos of people having sex. The list went on to how attraction worked, how his species in particular found and attracted mates.

Turns out, Irkens were prone to letting off a type of scent when the one who aroused them was nearby. The sent would leak from their antennas when they were in the others presence, making them able to scent their attraction. The stunning part about the ordeal was that the person the Irken was attracted to was the only one who would be able to identify the scent.

Bellas explained it as a biological thing, using the example of a flower that was created for only one person to be able to smell. No one else would be able to identify the scent because they wouldn't be able to smell it. Only the person who the scent was created for, which in this case, would be Dib should Zim begin to create the scent, would be able to smell it.

Zim worried over the scent thing, Bellas had explained that through physical contact, his biology would begin to change since now he knew he was sexually stimulated by the hybrid. She had advised that being near the person he was attracted to wasn't something he couldn't do, but if they were to become physical for any long period of time, then the scent would start to generate and be released.

So swimming with the hybrid was going to be a lot harder than he expected, but then again, the sadness in Dibs eyes had Zim shaking his head. He had to stop making Dib upset, it seemed it was the only thing he was good at nowadays.

Forcing a smile to his lips, Zim gave Dib the answer he was waiting for.

"I'm not busy, I was just trying to figure out what I'm supposed to wear when we do this… Swimming lesson thing."

The answering smile Dib gave him had Zim giving a real one of his own. He could make this work, and while Dib listed off the things he would need, Zim silently prayed in his head that everything wouldn't blow up in his face later.

.


	15. Chapter 15

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 15: The Lesson Begins**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Sorry you guys for the long wait on these chapters, I've been working basically every day and am going to be taking a law class this January so I had to save up some money. But I'm getting back into the swing of things and am trying to amp up the cuteness of this story and make Zim and Dib have more moments together that lead up to a relationship. Read and review you guys ^_^.**

Zim stood in his room once again in front of the mirror, looking at his reflection and appraising his old wet suit from time in the military. The Dib had said he needed to wear something that could get wet but wouldn't weigh him down in the water. The only thing he knew would do that would be his wet suit, it took him a while to find it though because he had it stored back in the archives room.

He honestly couldn't believe the damn thing still fit him, the tight black material molded to his skin perfectly. Covering his whole body aside from his hands and feet which were left bare. He wanted to wear his shoes and gloves but Dib had thrown that complaint right out the window. He needed to have those free so he could properly move in the water.

Besides that, Gidget would be supplying him with a breathing mask used for under water diving, some eye covers so he could see under the water, as well as flippers. Dib jokingly stated the flippers were so Zim would be able to keep up with him when they really got into swimming, but he also said it would be a while before he could actually use them. The flippers were more for speed while in the water, but they could also be a crutch to learners because it kept them elevated longer when they kicked their feet. Dib wanted Zim to learn how to support himself without the fins first, and then when Dib deemed him ready, they could use the other items.

Looking himself over, Zim gave a huff and a sigh before he gathered his wits and left the comfort of his room. No use in avoiding the inevitable, he just hoped he could control his budding attraction for the hybrid before his body decided to embarrass him.

He was honestly still confused on why this had come on so suddenly, but as the doctor had explained; he was experiencing a fast rate type of puberty. Something in his body found the hybrid attractive, and because of it, his body was preparing him to be in the future, capable of sexual activity.

Zim didn't even want to think about it, he could still remember the videos he had watched, what everything meant. And since his Pak stored data and collected new information like a sieve, he couldn't just stop himself from thinking about all of it, but he could try.

Maybe learning how to swim would help take his mind off of things, that is, unless his body threw some information at him during the lesson that would make his body react to the Dib. The embarrassment alone would probably kill him before the hybrid could get his hands around him. No doubt Dib didn't want any part of this weird attraction Zim felt, he just hoped that through all of this he didn't screw up his friendship with him. The realization that Dib could potentially hate him for that made Zims chest squeeze uncomfortably. He wouldn't blame him for it if he did, he just wasn't sure why it made him feel so.. bad and upset.

He really didn't want the hybrid to hate him anymore than he already did, although Dib had said he didn't hate him, Zim believed that if all of this was brought into the open, the hybrid would surely go back to treating him like he was a threat.

Soon Zim found himself outside of the Dibs room, contemplating if this was a good idea all over again. He was worrying over every possible outcome that could go wrong, not to mention he felt ridiculous in the wet suit, having gotten a lot of stares from the janitorial staff as he passed through the halls. Gidget even chuckled a little when he passed by her room, making a thin blush spread over his cheeks and quicken his pace slightly. He didn't want to be in the hallway anymore.

Before he could even make up his mind about opening the hybrids door, the damn thing swung open suddenly, the little robot he had come to now despise stood there for a second, looking Zim up and down before he screamed unintelligibly, startling Zim into backing up.

" **The Donut man is here!"** Gir screamed before grabbing Zim by the front of his wet suit and practically throwing him into the room before slamming the door shut. His jet packs firing up to help him lift Zim and drop him unceremoniously on the floor in front of Dib.

"I brought the donuts!"Gir yelled, saluting Dib with his tongue hanging slightly out of his mouth.

Dib, who had been monkeying with his I-Pad , looked up to give Gir a pat on the head and a smile. "Good boy Gir, now go play with Gidget until I tell you to come back OK."

"Yes Sir!" and then Gir was off again, leaving Zim and Dib to their own devices. They could still hear him screaming all the way down the hall until Gidgets shocked yelp echoed back to them. Dib laughed lightly before fixing his gaze on Zim, smiling slightly when he saw Zim sitting up to rub his head with a grumbling look on his face.

"I really don't like your robot, it's too destructive and causes a lot of trouble." Dib didn't look at all fazed by Zims remark, instead going back to fiddling with the I-Pad for the moment, changing around some of the setting in his tank. He knew Zim didn't like Gir, but he was a work in progress, besides, Dib kind of liked the fact that Gir could rile Zim up. The Irken was too ridged, too complacent with an easy routine, Gir scrambled things up a bit. Zim never really seemed to leave the tower once he got stuck in a work related rut, with Gir around prowling the halls and looking for anything to play with or yell at, Zim would have more reason to avoid the little menace than skulk through his tower trying to hide.

Dibs musings stopped when the I-pad beeped, signaling that it had finished its task. Dib looked over all of the changes he had imputed, making sure his tank was indeed safe for the Irken sitting in front of him.

Since Dib himself was a great swimmer, his tank reflected that of a real ocean current, he could swim through the rough undertow without breaking a sweat. Even the filtration device had a good enough current to knock an Olympic swimmer through a loop. Zim on the other hand was not a swimmer, and therefore, there needed to be some changes to how his tank functioned. Too fast of a current and Zim would be swept away, so that was lowered to a quiet lull in the water. The filtrations level was set to match it, keeping the tank at an easy relaxing flow.

It definitely wasn't as strong as the lazy river in some theme parks, but it would keep the tanks ecosystem moving without causing too much damage. A still water salt tank was dangerous for too long since bacteria grew quickly. Ammonia would form in pools at the bottom of the tank if there was no current to help keep the levels steady and move the water around. And since Dib was a rather large fish with a semi large appetite, the ammonia from the fish he consumed would have likely overpowered his tank had the current not been set at what it was.

A few hours set at a relaxing pace to help someone learn how to swim wouldn't harm anything, he just couldn't leave it at this level for too many days otherwise he would get gastronomically sick.

The hybrid shivered at the memory of when he did get that sick from ammonia build up, it was the worst experience of his life and it didn't help that the humans took forever in figuring out what was going on. His mother had been the one to see the problem, cursing out a few of the scientists when she pointed out that my filter and the fan that created the current had both shut down simultaneously. She had been gone on a 3 day conference for her research when she got the urgent call that something was wrong with her specimen at the Membrane Labs. It only took her putting her hand inside the tank and feeling no current that she flipped on the scientists. Once the new filter and fan were installed and everything was working properly, Dib had started to feel better within the next day.

If he wasn't careful, ammonia build up alone could potentially kill him.

A cough from in front of him brought him back once again out of his slight reprieve to stare at the Irken who had no doubt coughed to get his attention.

"I'm almost done," Dib said in slight exasperation, shaking his head when Zim looked away in embarrassment.

Placing the I-pad back onto its stand, Dib turned to see Zim no longer looking at him but at the water, a slightly nervous look to his features.

"Its not as hard as it looks," Dib said while sliding over to the edge of the tank to sit close to Zim, trying to coax the Irken into maybe having some fun with this. "Swimming might be scary but once someone gets the hang of it the activity could turn into an everyday thing".

"Easy for you to say," Zim gruff-ed out, "You didn't almost drown the other day." "That is true, in fact it is quit hard for me to drown, but I'll actually be here to help you through all of the movements. I even set the tank up so you wouldn't have a hard time through the currents. The only thing stopping you is your fear."

Leaving the sentence as it was more of a way to rile Zim into thinking he was challenging him. Who would win? Zim, or his fear?

Ultimately Zim played right into Dibs words and slid into the water, albeit clutching the side of the tank as if his life depended on it, but at least he got in. Dib couldn't stop the slight smile that crept onto his face at realizing he had sort of manipulated Zim and his ego. Just a means to an end he told himself while sliding in next to the Irken, ignoring the little flutter inside his stomach when Zim unconsciously moved to get closer to him in the water.

"Alright, we shall begin with something easy," Dib explained, allowing Zim to hang onto the ledge of the tank while Dib swam out into the water, giving Zim an excellent view of the hybrid. "I'll show you the move and then I want you to try and replicate it, sound easy enough?"

Zim just mutely nodded, not trusting his voice to hold steady while surrounded in a liquid that almost killed him nearly a day ago. He was still scared, but he had to admit the material he was wearing didn't weigh him down in the slightest. Dib was right to make him change out of his robes, they were certainly part of the reason why he couldn't move very well when he had fallen into the tank. This time when he moved around or kicked his legs, he didn't feel trapped inside his own clothing.

"Alright I need you to pay attention now, OK?" Dib called from where he hovered, watching Zim intently for when the Irken decided to bolt out of the pool and change his mind. He could tell Zim was scared still, but the best way to face your fears was to do the thing that started them. Getting back into the water after almost drowning was a sure fire way of helping expel the phobia… or so he hoped.

"Now I want you to try something a lot of earth children have a hard time with. I'm going to take a deep breath, hold it, and go down under the water, then come back up and take another breath. This is to help get you used to holding your breath under the water." Then, Dib started to lower himself into the water, leaving just a patch of his hair to be seen so that he didn't completely disappear. He really didn't need Zim freaking out any more than he already was, though it was kind of fun to watch him flounder in the water.

Zim was taking in the scene before him with a keen eye, not wanting to miss anything important, but watching Dib take a deep breath and then slowly lower into the water made Zim nervous to follow the lead. Only he could make going underwater look scary to a new swimmer.

"OK now you try," Zim hadn't even seen Dib rise out of the water, but now Dib was looking at him expectantly, wanting him to copy what the hybrid had just done.

Zim managed to take a deep breath, and then, keeping his grip on the side of the tank, slowly ease into the water until it came right above his eyes. Though, unfortunately, Zim forgot that he would need the weird eye covering things because, as soon as the salty water hit his deep red eyes, the water began to burn and he sort of freaked out.

He would never say he freaked out though, oh no, the great Tallest Zim would never freak out, he only got surprised and half jumped out of the water slightly screaming while whipping at his eyes and holding onto the ledge at the same time.

"This water burns Dib Beast! Why would you make me go under it if it was going to burn me?!" The edges of Zims eyes were starting to turn red as he vigorously rubbed the skin raw to get the salt water out of it. "Well," Dib started slowly, "I would have figured that you would automatically close your eyes to go under the water, my mistake, I didn't realize you didn't know the water can irritate your sensitive eyes." He added the last part with an eye roll and a disgruntled "humph" from Zim.

"Well you didn't add eye closing into the directions, maybe Dib beast needs to work on his instruction giving." There was definitely a pout in Zims voice but otherwise, the distress he was in seemed to go away.

"Alright alright, when I give the next direction, I'll tell you exactly what I need you to do and how to perform it, OK?"

Zim only nodded, readying himself for the next task and trying not to make himself look like a fool….again.

"OK now for this task were going to get you into the rhythm of moving your feet in the water so you can begin the swimming objective. We just have get your legs working before your arms."

That didn't seem too hard Zim thought, waiting for Dib to start the demonstration, only becoming confused when the hybrid swam next to him and grabbed the ledge. "I can't really show you how to kick your feet since well, you know, I don't have any feet to speak of. So were going to use yours."

With that Dib swam even closer to zim so they were side by side. "I'm just going to lift up your legs while you hold onto the side of the tank, and show you what I want you to do so you don't get confused." Zim would have been insulted had he not lost his barring's when the Dibs hands went under his legs and helped them float to the top of the water. His skin was surprisingly warm, the flesh soft to the touch. Zim figured the webbing on Dibs fingers would feel gross against him, but he found himself fascinated instead. "OK, now what you want to do is act like your walking, but you're going to lift one leg at a time and kick rhythmically so that the water is being forced behind you." He helped move Zims legs to accommodate his explanation, only keeping minimal contact and releasing once the demonstration was done. Zim would never admit that he missed the contact, but the light flutter in his stomach said otherwise. He did his best to squash the feeling back down where it came from. 'Stupid puberty' Zim growled in his mind, his train of thought trying to make everything dirty.

Dib couldn't stop the small little tremble that coursed through him when Zim allowed them to make contact, feeling a bit of a thrill when he was able to lift the Irkens legs to the top of the water, manipulating their movements to demonstrate his explanation. Zim seemed fine with the contact, even moving a little more into the touch, though whether he did it consciously or not was left to be seen. 'He's probably still freaked out from being in the water,' Dib thought, 'otherwise I don't think he would have liked me touching him, he just wants to know he has a lifeline if he needs help.'

Though that thought was oddly disconcerting, the reason why though seemed to stump him. Why did he care?

A splash startled him out of his mind slump, "Am I doing this right Dib beast?" Zim asked while continually kicking his legs in the water, splashing Dib a fair few times when he pumped a little harder.

Smiling now at how fast the Irken learned Dib nodded. "Yeah that's perfect, now we just have to get you using your arms and you'll be a natural." The praise seemed to make whatever was left of the stress Zim felt go completely away, his heart fluttering a little when Dib smiled at him. 'I'm turning into a lovesick doopler aren't I?' Zim thought, angry at himself and his haywire emotions turning his body to jelly. 'I can't even take a simple compliment without my heart feeling like it's going to explode.'

The arms took a little longer for Zim to figure out, but with Dib being able to perform this task without needing to touch Zim, he was content to just watch as the hybrid moved in the water. He even showed Zim the proper way to breath, though Zim knew it was mainly just for his benefit. With everything combined, (arms and breathing), Dib broke it down to (take three strokes, then a breath, and repeat). All the while Zim would be kicking his legs, moving his arms, and rotating his head from side to side so he could get air. It seemed like a lot of work, but with the Dibs help and some patience, (which Zim didn't have a lot of), he was able to perform the task without much trouble.

Soon, Zim had a steady pace going, being able to swim in the water with Dib beside him, moving around him to check his form. Every once in a while touching him, explaining that he should lift his arms higher or to kick his legs harder so he could gain better speed.

Zim to say the least was having, dare he say it, fun while being in the water. He thought the whole experience was going to be terrifying, burning his eyes at the beginning hadn't helped, but while Dib stayed beside him and guided him through the movements, he found he enjoyed the prospect of swimming that much more. His brain throwing in, (swimming with Dib more) and making his cheeks heat up while he was under the water. He couldn't help but wonder what had stopped him from learning how to swim before. Surely Dib would have appreciated someone who at least knew the basics of what to do when in the water, not someone as clueless as Zim. The hybrid never showed any disinterest though, in fact, Dib seemed eager to want to teach Zim everything he knew about swimming.

And Zim kept soaking up the information like a sieve, never disappointing the hybrid and excelling with rapid speed through his swimming lessons. Only 3 hours in and Dib was letting him wear the breathing mask and flippers in the water. Zim already wearing the goggles, asDib had called them, so he could see while he maneuvered around the top of the tank. The giant leaves kept floating in his way during the lessons, annoying him to no end when he had to push a few away. Going under the water made everything that much easier, but also harder. Zim had to basically learn what Dib called 'the dolphin kick' while being under the surface. Dib explained that with the flippers, he could move faster than if he did a regular kick, and since he would have the breathing mask he could follow Dib while he gave a tour of his underwater home.

Zim was vibrating with excitement when he and Dib finally moved under the surface together, Dib surprising him when he reached for his hand and started talking to him telepathically. The jolt of electricity almost ticklish to Zim, running through his body like an easy current while Dib spoke to him, showing him his home.

Dib explained everything to Zim, how his tank worked, where his food came in from, but Zim loved the garden more. The floating structure with the open ports at the bottom, allowing the roots to cascade down into the water made Zim feel like he was entering an upside-down forest. Even some of the vine containing leaves made their way down into the water, the roots all different colors joining in with the rays of the sun making the water itself below the garden look like a rainbow. Though beside the garden with its colorful roots and the leaves adorning the top of the water, Zim wondered briefly what Dib did most days when he was away and Gidget was busy. It made him a little unhappy thinking about Dib alone in here, not being able to leave and explore the rest of the castle, just having the inside of this room, his garden and Gir to look at. Gir himself was also fun, but Zim knew he escaped often enough, so what did Dib do to pass the time? Zim already knew if it were him he would get stir crazy, but then he had to consider that Dib was already used to this type of treatment.

Being kept in a lab for most of his life had to already made him accustomed to this, and Zim offered him many more luxuries than the humans ever could, but still, the hybrid must get board and lonely when left alone.

But wait! Zim already has Gidget working on that surprise for Dib, how could he have forgotten about that? Briefly he wondered if it was finished yet, he may be able to take Dib outside by tomorrow given Gidget said it wouldn't take her long to modify the device to fit the hybrid. A new excitement bubbled inside Zim at the thought of being able to show Dib his world, gripping the hand he was holding harder and making Dib give him a lopsided smile.

The rest of the day was spent with Zim and Dib swimming together, repeatedly going under the water so Zim could swim around the garden again while Dib showed off his own moves, flaring his fins so Zim could watch as they glided through the water, even pointing out to the Irken which ones contained the poisonous quills. Though the closer and closer Zim got to the hybrid, the more his pre-pubescent brain started to creep back out from the recesses of his mind.

His brain was being cruel to him the longer he stayed in the water with the hybrid. Whenever the Dib moved a certain way, or brushed past him while swimming, or touched him to correct a movement, Zims mind went straight back to the gutter. Everything was a bundle of sensations, every touch or brush from the hybrid had his insides quivering. Soon his mind was throwing at him videos of Irkens making love only to have his sex addled mind replace the Irkens with pictures of himself and the Dib.

Both of them moving together, touching each other, kissing, his brain trying to figure out who would be on top, who would dominate, who would moan first?.. That's when things started to spiral out of control. The videos his mind kept replaying back and forth finally seemed to reach the area of his body Zim didn't know how to control. "Oh crap" The words were out faster than Zim had time to control them, feeling the region near the joint of his legs begin to tingle as his mind allowed the gutter filled with sex and kissing take over. He had been copying a movement Dib instructed him to do in the water so his face was obscure when he had started to feel what was going on, but his uttered phrase had Dib next to him in a heart- beat.

"What's wrong, why did you stop?" Dib asked as he settled next to Zim in the water. He had been watching Zim do a fairly easy stroke across the pool when the Irken's head shot out of the water, hearing him utter "Oh crap" made Dib worry he had somehow hurt himself.

"I-I'm fine, I just need some air," Zim panted out, trying to hide the flush on his face when Dib moved closer to him. "Did you get a cramp or something?" worried Zim might have overtaxed himself, Dib went to wrap an arm around the Irken's waist to help him over to the side of the tank when he started to smell something.

Zims entire frame was trembling, he could feel himself getting harder the closer Dib got to him, the hybrid nearly touching him when his antenna began to tingle. Zim knew what that meant, the medic had explained to him everything he would potentially feel when he started to become aroused. "Once your antenna start tingling, you release a scent that coaxes the other individual into copulation." I need to get out of the water right now! He thought frantically, looking anywhere but at the hybrids face, scared of what he might look like right now while his face became inflamed from embarrassment.

Starting to swim for the ledge of the tank in order to escape, a startled yelp bellowed out of him when the hybrid gripped his arm and forced him to stop, pulling him in closer to the Dibs towering frame.

Just having Dibs hand on his arm was making him hot, he was only glad that his member hadn't come out of its sheath yet, then he really would die of embarrassment. Though he wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep it inside of him, the damn thing was practically squirming to be released from between his legs.

"Zim, look at me." Dib commanded, keeping a firm hold on the Irkens arm in case he tried to escape again. He knew what that smell was; he had scented it before on some females back on earth.

Though his days weren't always filled with excitement back on Earth, watching the humans go about their day through his tank became the norm for him. Becoming aware of when attraction started to form between individuals let off a tell tale scent that Dib had trained his nose to catch. Even though it was obvious the males couldn't tell the scent was there, they were enchanted by it and subconsciously their bodies knew what to do.

But why was Zim letting off the scent? He wanted to know, he needed to know why he could smell it so clearly on the Irken, and why it seemed to be driving him crazy on the inside. So crazy in fact that when he had the Irken within reach, he couldn't stop himself from touching him, grabbing him to make sure he didn't get too far away. It felt like he was hungry, Zims smell so intoxicating, almost like the fish that swam through the tank when he wanted to consume flesh. Though this hunger was different, he didn't want to eat Zim, not in the way he ate fish. He could feel his eyes dilating, the black taking over as he pulled Zims retreating form closer for inspection, he needed to know what was going on, and he needed to know now!

What was Zim feeling? How did Dib make him feel?

Zim was reluctant to look at the hybrids face, though he knew he wouldn't be able to hide himself forever. Though something in the Dibs voice had his eyes moving to look directly into the pitch black eyes of the being holding him close.

He should have been scared, hell, if he allowed himself to admit it, seeing Dibs eyes like that when he only saw them turn that color when he was eating did scare him slightly. But when Dibs nose scrunched up as he took in the scent wafting off of him, Zim became worried for a different reason.

"Zim," the hybrids voice was low, gruff, almost like he was having a hard time talking. "Are you…. aroused…. right now?" Zim cringed a little at the question; of course the Dib could smell him. When Dib spoke, he didn't sound mad however, it kind of sounded like Dib was curious, like he couldn't believe Zim was aroused but the scent coming off of the Irken had him questioning and wondering what was going on.

How the heck was Zim supposed to explain that though! Zim yelled at himself, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that Dib would hate him again should he explain what was going on. The hurt he felt at that thought wrung his gut out like a wet rag, he couldn't explain it, but it hurt. It hurt to know how easily Dib could dismiss his feelings and leave him shattered. Yet the look the hybrid was giving him had him questioning that.

He didn't seem mad… but… he surely would be should he know Zim was attracted to him. He didn't need an Irken coming onto him, especially one he lived with and couldn't walk away from.

His brain hurt just thinking of everything that could go wrong in these next few minutes, but knowing that if he didn't at least explain himself, the guilt of lying would weigh down on him far worse than the Dib rejecting him. At least if he told him outright, then the hybrid could give him a nice quick rejection and Zim could go sulking back to his room…. Preferably to stay there the rest of his life while his emotions rot through his body.

Thinking and doing were completely different however.

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Zim made his decision.


	16. Chapter 16

**D.I.B (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)**

 **Chapter 16: An odd Explanation**

 **By Glowzilla**

 **Hey guys, I'm hoping to catch up on the missed time by posting a few chapters while I have a day off from work. I tend to make the chapters long though, so after this one it might be a week or so before anything else happens. I hope I'm not rushing their relationship but I did want to start them somewhere and the swimming lesson seemed like a great point. I'm hoping the chapter after this will be more definitive on where their relationship is headed, but sometimes I tend to snowball in a different direction lol. Anyway read and review ^_^.**

"Ok, explain that to me one more time, but, go a lot slower and try to breathe when you say it." Dib made sure his voice was calm, but inside he felt confused. He just wanted to make sure he heard the Irken right when that odd explanation was thrown at him.

"Like I said," Zim huffed out, feeling a bit exposed and uncomfortable now that he was sitting on the ledge of the tank with Dib below him in the water, listening to his explanation. "I'm going through a fast rate type of puberty, (as explained by my doctor), I just found out I could go through puberty because I didn't realize my body was built for copulation and I ended up having a wet dream that freaked me out making me feel like I was going to die. I asked my doctor what was going on and she laughed at me! But I didn't know any of this stuff could happen! So now I'm going through puberty and every once in a while this odd reaction happens and my, whatever it is, tries to come out. It's weird and its freaking me out and I have no idea how to deal with it."

Zim huffed a breath and looked away, a hot red tinge gracing his face while Dib sorted through the information he was given.

"Huh" was the intelligent response. Zims head whipped back to look at the hybrid, "That's all you have you have to say? Huh!"

"Well, what am I supposed to say? I get it, Puberties a bitch, I went through it while I was growing up back on Earth, but I thought you were older than me". That was a legitimate response, and technically, Zim was older than him, by like a lot, but still the lack of info Zim had was based solely on the fact that he was a clone, not a being born. This information on mating and puberty wasn't privy to him at the time.

"I didn't know I could go through puberty". Was the quick response, "As I have said before, three times now might I add". Dib just wiped a hand down his face, feeling exasperated by the Irkens huffy mood. "Ok, I get that you didn't know, but based on your age, why is it happening now? And why didn't you know? You did say fast rate, like your bodies trying to catch up to where you're at maturity wise, but why now?" and that too was a legitimate question, one that had Zims face heating up more.

"The doctor thinks it is because an outward stimulus has evoked my hormones into acting up and making them go into a frenzy. I am also a clone, not natural born, so she thinks the programing in my Pak also had a great deal to do with why my body is so late to respond. My bodies trying to catch up to make use of what I have but didn't know about. And the only reason I didn't know about anything, even with my age in consideration, is mainly because as a clone I didn't think it possible for me to go through anything a natural born would be able too. Mating had been extinguished during the waring period; families were too costly for soldiers so cloning became the norm for a very long time. As a clone, we weren't told mating could be an option for any of us. When the wars slowed down and everything started going back to normal, the natural born went back to their original way of life while the rest of us took up jobs and basically stayed out of sight."

Zim seemed to drift off as his life came back to him, back when the wars finally ended and he had been sent back to Irk. Before he became tallest, even before running for tallest was an option, he didn't see any use for himself out in the world. He had been created to fight and die for Irk, not having a purpose left him struggling through everyday life. Since no one paid attention to clones anyway, the Irkens who were born naturally started to re-populate the planet. It was a few months before Zim decided to run for tallest, he just didn't know what to do with his free time, and it was his dream to rule Irk, it always had been. Instead of fighting in battle, Zim found himself fighting a popularity contest with his fellow Irkens as he thrived for the peoples vote.

Winning had been one of his greatest achievements, though he had to wonder, if he knew he was capable of mating when it became legal and the war had ended, would he have still run for tallest even as the hormones he was feeling coursed through his blood? He was in so much of a frenzy right now that just having the Dib creature below him, looking up at him in the water was driving him crazy. A slow fire building in his spooch and traveling through his chest, feeling like it was encasing his entire body in an inferno of heat. He squirmed a little as the hybrid continued to look at him, feeling the blush spread further over his face and down his neck. Pushing his legs together to stop his squirming organ from breaching the opening and tenting his wet suite, he tried to think of something else to get his body to cool down.

Irk, the Dib must find him completely disgusting right now. The thought assaulted him so quickly that the heat he was feeling turned ice cold. It was the direction he wanted his thought process to go into, but he couldn't help the hurt he felt at his own words. They must be true he thought, the Dib surely wouldn't want any part of this madness, and worst off, if he found out I was like this because I was attracted to him, he might not want to see me anymore. As soon as the heat had started, it began to disappear, the flush remained on his face, but his organ stopped moving around inside of him as reality hit.

No matter how many fantasies he had of the Dib and himself, there was no way it was ever going to happen. His body was addicted to a dream and he had to face the cold hard facts. The hybrid tolerated him enough to teach him how to swim, he was still a guest in a foreign land which made him vulnerable. To make matters worse, he was suspicious of everything around him including Zim. If he thought for a moment his life here was threatened because of Zims attraction to him, he might feel he needs to go along with it based on his position. It's not like he has anywhere to go, but, Zim would never do that to Dib. If anything he would offer the Dib creature alternative living arrangements should he want them. Though it would kill his emotions if Dib wanted to leave, he would never force the Dib to reciprocate feelings that weren't there.

The more he thought of it, the more upset he became, a storm brewing inside of him about future plans that didn't bode well with the emotions already churning in his spooch.

"You said the doctor explained that the fast rate puberty was happening because of an outward stimulus kicking your hormones into overdrive". Zims reprieve was broken when the Dib spoke out. With everything that was going on, the hybrid didn't seem disgusted, mad, or even uncomfortable, he just looked really curious, maybe even a little blasé about the whole thing. Like he was chatting with a friend about something normal.

"Y-yeah", Zim offered shyly, still wondering why the hybrid wasn't willing to kick him out of his room yet. Their eyes met briefly while Dib was thinking, the pitch black color sending a delicious shiver down Zims back. It's like the wild animal inside of him is taking over, called out by the scent Zims antenna were giving off.

The idea that Dib would become a viciously animalistic lover due to the scent Zim gave off had his organ stirring once again. Berating himself for the scandalous thoughts, the idea still lingered in the back of his mind. The videos on mating Zim had watched began to pop up again, no matter how many times he tried to stop the flow of material.

These hormones are going to kill me! He thought desperately, ashamed at himself once again when the thoughts shifted to Dib being the one on top, dominating him while his animal instincts took over, showing Zim who the true alpha male was.

'Oh My Irk I need to get out of here!' The desperation in his brain matched his body, seeming to understand that fantasy and reality did not mix so well.

Another question from the hybrid stopped him from getting up and running out of the room, the Dib not seeming to understand what Zim was going through and wanting to find out more information.

"Can I ask who it is that you have a crush on?" The question was normal enough, supposing Dib didn't get ahead of himself while he asked the Irken personal questions. He might not even have a crush on anyone, maybe he watched some dirty video by accident and that's what got it all started. Though in his mind, he didn't quite believe that. Sure videos helped, but they were more for fantasizing about you and a lover doing everything you saw, not just the video itself. Even though he had seen a few videos back on earth, (secretly mind you), he never found them appealing because they just looked fake. Maybe it was also because he wasn't attracted to humans in general, it was something in his biology, he just didn't see himself with a human lover. It might have been the animal instincts talking, but he found them too weak, too vulnerable, they wouldn't be capable of handling him. He needed a lover that was strong, capable of handling themselves, humans were determined creatures, but if they were ever with him, he figured it would do more harm than good.

Something about Zim though, even if it was just the smell that was doing it, there was something about the Irken that made Dib pay more attention to him than he thought was healthy. Since he began living in the tower, he began to crave attention from the Irken and not in the normal 'I'm bored' way. It was something else, something he had never wanted with the humans, something new, and he wanted it to last. The feelings he got around Zim were always surprising him, always catching him off guard.

What surprised him the most was allowing Zim into the tank with him. Sure he had promised to teach Zim how to swim, but he would never have offered it if he didn't trust the Irken. And something in him allowed that trust to form, he'd never let anyone in his home before, into his territory. But something primitive changed when it was Zim. Not only was it Ok for Zim to be in the water, Dib thought it would be Ok if Zim was here every day, swimming with him, having fun the way that they were.

Dibs nose crinkled, the scent, it was growing stronger, more pungent, starting to get to him in a primitive way. Unconsciously he moved closer to the Irken, well aware that he was infringing on personal space.

"So, who is it? if you don't mind me asking that is." Only repeating the question when it looked like Zim wasn't going to answer him, the Irken seemed distant, maybe even bothered by something. Like his brain was in a fog and he was trying to figure things out.

He really was pushing his luck now. Almost half way out of the water, gripping the ledge of the tank as he hoisted his body up to lean closer to Zim, wanting to smell the scent that was coming off of the Irken. It was almost addicting, but he didn't know how else to describe what he was feeling.

Zims eyes locked with the hybrids for a moment before he turned away, flushed, not knowing how he was going to answer that question. Tell him who he likes? How was he supposed to answer that when his answer was technically right in front of him?

Dibs antenna perked up the minute their eyes locked, the scent grew almost immediately, making Dib become more engrossed in their conversation. It also had him trying to piece what was happening together, because now the scent was having a different effect on him, and he could feel it like a burning in his stomach. The sensation was, as he envisioned before, like he was hungry, but not in the normal sense. He didn't see Zim as the fish he was fed, no no, that's not the hunger he was experiencing. This was new, invigorating, and consuming. Zims scent was turning him on!

The stark reality of that almost had him crashing back into the water, his body swaying backwards slightly so he could really look at the Irken sitting in front of him. This hadn't ever happened before, and while the experience wasn't upsetting to him, he was if lack of a better word, slightly confused as to why it was happening. 'It has to be that scent,' Dib thought, racking his eyes over the slender form of the Tallest as he hunched in on himself, the cold obviously getting to him since he was damp from the water. Dibs brain supplying that Zims species was cold blooded since they were more reptilian in nature, though that thought palled in comparison to the heat coursing through his body.

Bitting back a growl Dib got control of himself before he tried speaking, he knew his eyes had gone completely black, he didn't want to freak Zim out more if he started to growl in arousal. Though his antenna were clicking behind his head, zings of electricity coursing through the stalks, wanting to explode out of excitement.

"Zim," Dib started slow, trying to catch those bright ruby eyes but Zim was intent on avoiding his gaze. "Zim, please look at me OK?, I just want to understand what's going on since it seems to be affecting me as well."

The Irkens eyes widened once Dib said that, his form trembling now, wrapping his arms around his chest and leaning forward, trying to make himself smaller. "I- I'm sorry, Dib creature, Zim can't control the scent, it- it just happens when I'm a-a-arou…. Umm… turned on." He couldn't get the word aroused out but it felt way to intimate to say that, though it was the truth, he was aroused, extremely, and Dib was not helping.

Dib pressed his lips into a thin line, so Zim knew he was making that scent, but isn't that, I don't know, Dangerous? If he's walking around with that scent going on, with other Irkens around to potentially smell them, would he be attacked? Is their species like cats? When one goes into heat the others who smell it go into a frenzy? Dib was already having a hard enough time controlling his urges now, and he was right up next to Zim, he just had a better control over his instincts. But Zim could be putting himself into a really bad position if he were to go outside and someone jumps him.

For some reason that idea didn't sit well with him, someone taking advantage of Zim, smelling that intoxicatingly sweet scent, touching that lean, smooth body, it had his fins rising from his tale and the electricity intensify into sharp clicks, snapping in the air angrily.

Dibs face was now twisted into anger at those thoughts, Zims eyes landing on him and paling, not understanding what Dib was thinking and assuming the anger was directed at him, he tried to get up and leave.

"I'm so sorry!" Zim whimpered, backing away and turning to sprint out the door before Dib caught his wrist, holding him in a death grip simultaneously stopping his escape.

"No!" Dib yelled, his thoughts making him act irrationally. "I'm not mad at you OK, I'm sorry, it's just, your scent, its dangerous for you to go outside while that's going on, someone could smell you and attack you!" Dib was panting by now, his grip easing up when he didn't feel Zim resisting him. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"That won't happen," Zim stated it calmly, though now he was turned away from Dib so the hybrid couldn't see his face as he spoke.

"What do you mean it won't happen?" Dib parroted, "Zim even though the scent is fluctuating from on and off, I can't believe someone would smell it and not be able to contain themselves! Even I'm having a hard time but I'm better at controlling myself, and I would never take advantage of you. But the risk is still there since others may not have the same self control."

Again Zim was trembling, liquid filling his eyes as his emotions seemed to get the better of him, Dib unaware of the struggles going through the form in front of him.

"It just won't happen OK! I'm not going to be attacked by anyone and I would like to be alone right now so just let me go!" Zim made another attempt to escape but Dib wasn't having it, upset that Zim didn't see the severity of the situation.

"You can't guarantee that and until you get this under control you could be in danger!"

"I'm not in danger because no one else can smell it!" Zim roared, panting as he tried to get out of Dibs steel grip, only stopping when he realized what he had said.

"What do you mean no one else can smell it?" Dib asked, a gear slowly turning in his head, his chest tightening with what he believed Zim was going to say.

Zims head fell against his chest, his arm a limp appendage in the hybrids grip, the liquid having spilled out against his cheeks while his face heated in shame. He didn't want to say it, had been trying to avoid it, but now, he didn't have a choice.

"No one else can smell it because the scent can only be detected by the one who is supposed to be the intended mate. Our species creates a scent specifically to entice one such individual, others cannot smell it because they are not the intended recipient."

Dib let that sink in, and for a moment, his mind went completely blank, until it went into overdrive as the pieces began to fit together.

"But, I can smell the scent," Dib stated, unable to believe what was happening. At Zims small nod, Dib gave into his curiosity and asked, in a small voice, "Can I smell the scent because, I'm the outward stimulus that caused your puberty and hormones to go into overdrive?" Again another small nod from Zim, "Am I the one you like Zim?" a moment passed, and then another, Dib growing slightly anxious before, finally, Zim gave a barely there nod.

"Oh wow," Dib stated in surprise, releasing Zims arm in shock as he fell back into the water, needing a moment to comprehend what had just happened.

The moment Dib released Zims arm however, the Irken took off, bolting out of the door and out of sight before Dib could even stop him.

"Damn It!" Dib cursed, realizing Zim probably thinks he hates him now for figuring out what was going on. He needed to get to him, to speak with him, his body acting on impulse and propelling him out of the water and onto the tiled floor.

'This was going to be the hard part', Dib thought as he looked from where he was to the door, all the way across the floor.

It was definitely awkward, that much was true, but Dib kept pushing his body across the hard tiles, not wanting to waste any more valuable time in getting to Zim. His arms were struggling to pull him in the makeshift crawl he was attempting, his tail swishing back and forth to provide momentum, but without anything to grip since the tiles were smooth, Dib was having a very hard time. His scales were sore where they rubbed against the floor, a few of them tearing from the quick movements of his tail, though he wasn't too worried about them, they grew back pretty fast, it was just uncomfortable.

"The one time I could use a pair of legs and I'm stuck like this." The frustration in the words seeped out, he was so close to the door yet so far away. "Damnit! Why couldn't he have stayed here and talked with me? Its not like I was gonna be mad." Even as he said it, he understood why Zim acted the way he acted. He's knew to emotions and I basically make him confess, so this is partially my fault. Dib ignored the part of his brain that swooned with emotions upon learning the Irken Tallest liked him like that.

It definitely changes things Dib thought, trying to work out what he was going to say to Zim when he finally made it to his room, completely missing his door opening and Gidget walking in, Gir hanging from her grip.

'Oh my Tallest! Are you OK!? And what are you doing out of your tank!?" Gidgte was by Dibs side in an instant, grabbing his arm and tugging him back towards his tank. "Let's get you back into the water."

"No Gidget I'm fine I need to get to Zims room, if you wanna help, drag me to the door." Dib had been startled by her entrance but pushed aside her concern in order to continue on his mission.

"I just saw Zim run past me in the hallway, he looked upset," At Dibs odd expression Gidget asked, "Did something happen?"

Din nodded but didn't elaborate further, keeping his eyes on the door. "You can tell me about it later I guess." Gidget conceded, turning back towards the door and pushing it open.

"Wait! Can you help me get to Zim, I'm having a hard time crawling across the floor as it is." Dib was desperate to get to Zim, he needed to, everything in his body told him he needed to talk to the Irken.

Gidget looked back at him, confused, "Of course I'm going to help you, but we both aren't going to make it very far with you crawling on the floor, I'm just going to grab something to help us out." And with that she was gone.

5 agonizing minutes later Gidget came back, carrying what looked like fabric from her arms, a proud smile on her face as she knelt by Dibs side.

Zim asked me to make this for you as a surprise, he wanted me to wait to give it to you, but I think you need it now sooner rather than later if you get my gist."

"What is it?" Dib asked, looking at the material and Gidget, slightly confused.

"Put it on and find out." Gidget held out the material to Dib who took it, if hesitantly. The material was soft but heavy, and as he held it it unfolded to reveal what looked like a tunic of some sorts. The material was shaded pink and red, with hues of blue dusting the lining of the sleeves and the bottom hem of the tunic. It kind of resembled what Zim wore, though there was a clear circular formed belt that looped around the waist, with what looked like a smaller version of his tanks pump connected with it on the back.

"Water goes into the plastic tube, and the pump continually cleans and circulates it while you wear it. the fabric the tube is connected to goes right over where your gills are, so when you need a refresher, you only need to press a button on the right side of the tube, and ports will open on the side facing the fabric so the water can go in. when you don't want the water anymore, you press the button on the left, and the ports on the tube will open only these ones will create a vacuum type of effect so as to pull the water out. The material around the waist is heavier because it's waterproof, so you don't have to worry about springing a leak or anything."

Gidget was clearly proud of her work, though Dib loved the Gift, he didn't understand how this was going to help him mobility wise.

The female Irken saw his perplexed expression, shaking her head she helped the hybrid get into the tunic, filling the pump on the back with water from the tank so the water could begin circulating through the tube. Once fully dressed Gidget had to repress a squeal of excitement at seeing the hybrid in the formal clothing, the shades of pink red and blues all mixing well with his pale skin, gold, eyes and pitch black hair. He really was a sight to behold.

"It's, really nice Gidget," Dib stated calmly, looking over himself and feeling a happy flutter in his stomach at knowing this was put together out of Zims idea, but still, "How is this going to help me travel?"

"Like this." Gidget emphasized with what could only be an evil smirk as she pressed a button on the remote Dib didn't see her holding. An instant later Dib was airborne, a yelp escaping his lips as he was lifted from the floor abruptly, hovering over the tiles as his tail swung in an attempt to find purchase.

"Relax Dib!" Gidget called as she watched Dib flail around like a fish out of water, a giggle escaping when she realized how true the statement was. "Stop moving so the hydraulic lift on your back can stabilize and put you into an upright position. Once it has you straight North and South, the remote can help you navigate. Since you don't have a Pak like us, you cant use your brain to tell the hydraulics where to go, which is why," she placed the remote into Dibs webbed hand, "You get a remote."

Dib was still startled from everything going on, though his fins were happy to have the pressure off of them, he didn't think he'd have any left on his underside if he were going to crawl across the whole floor and the hallway to get to Zims room. Staring down at the remote in his hand, Dib looked at the simple controls, kind of like the volume buttons on a regular TV remote. Though to his dismay, there were six arrows, three going up, and three going down. Four of the arrows were in a circular patter, which he discerned to mean left right back and forward considering their placement. Pressing on the forward arrow to check, he got his answer when he jolted forward slightly. the two arrows on the bottom, one up and one down, he didn't know what those meant. Gidget who was watching him clarified what they were.

"Those are for speed, if you need to go faster or slower. You won't be able to go over 25mph though that can be changed if you want me to adjust it a little." Her smile told him Zim was probably the one who regulated the speed for a reason, especially since he knew Gidget was the one making the suit.

"This is really amazing," Dib breathed out, butterflies running through his stomach as he twirled a little in the robes, watching them flare with his movements. "Thank you." He beamed at Gidget, in awe at her creation. "Don't thank me," she shook her head though returned the smile. "Zim was the one who though of it, since hover suites have been used in the past by Tallest' who didn't want to travel long distances. Zim remembered we had extras in the castle and put me on the job of creating one that could keep you from drying out and move you easily if you wanted to go outside. The material can be completely submerged in water since the hydraulics and the pump are both waterproof."

Dib really marveled at how much thought was put into this, feeling an odd twinge in his stomach at knowing Zim put it all together for him.

"Why did he want to wait to give this to me? Was there something coming up he wanted to wait for?" Dib was curious to the reasoning, though he wasn't happy about the notion of having to wait for a surprise like this.

"Well," Gidget fumbled a little under his pressing stare, now that he was upright, only 3 inches from the ground, Dib still towered over her, and since he was technically wearing a tallest robe, she felt like she was talking to one of their rulers. "Zim has been in contact with professor Membrane for some time now, learing more about you and looking at your documents, when the professor told him about your date of birth, or Birthday as he put it."

Gidget cast a glance at Dib to see if he was catching on, at his surprised look she continued. "Your Birthday is coming up in another month, and since Membrane told Zim Birthdays were celebrated among your species, Zim was going to wait to give this to you on that day. He even made sure to have the entire day free in order to take you out so you could see the town and the shops in the area."

She smiled softly at how excited Zim was when he told her his idea, she had even helped plan the day out with him, a little upset that the surprise was ruined, though Dib needed to speak with Zim, as this was more important.

Dib was considerably flushed from her words, not knowing what to say, holding his hand up to his mouth in shock as he took in all the information.

"Well?" Gidget called, shocking Dib out of his own thoughts once again, "Go talk with Zim!" she pressed, pushing him towards the door and kicking him out into the hall. "Whatever happened between you two, fix it and make it better, I don't like to see my Tallest sad, especially since your presence has made him happier ever since you got here." She smiled at him and added, "Go down the hall about seven doors, you've reached your destination on the eighth door on your right. I'm going to tinker on Gir some more, when you get back I expect the whole story with no details missing."

With that the door shut in Dibs face and he was left in the hall staring at his room, speechless.

'The eighth door on the right' Dib repeated, making his way down the hall slowly as he worked the controls on the remote, getting the hang of it rather quickly once he adjusted the speed to what could be considered a slow walk. he was in such a hurry before but now that he was actually on his way to Zims room, he couldn't stop the nerves from assaulting his stomach. He still had no idea of what he was going to say to Zim, though he knew he had to explain to Zim that he wasn't upset. The Irken seemed to fixate on somehow hurting Dibs feeling so often now since Zim had scolded him a while back, 'he's probably giving himself a panic attack over how he thinks I feel". Dib chuckled at that, growing contemplative after a minute, really thinking the situation over.

"How **does** this make me feel?" It definitely wasn't bad, he would even go so far as to say it made him happy, but, Zim could just have a small crush on him, since emotions can be confusing during this stage of life, Dib had to tread carefully with how the Irken perceived him. Zim could most likely get over his feelings very quickly and find someone else he likes, though that thought made him angry.

A little startled at that, Dib realized he and Zim may share feelings along the same lines, Zim a little bit more sensitive to them. But still, was he willing to reciprocate those feelings? Zim was strong, capable, definitely a marvel to look at, and Dib felt a connection with him that he hadn't felt with anyone else, but was it out of like or respect, he wasn't sure.

Dib had also been through puberty and was fully matured, while Zim was just hitting puberty, his emotions were fluctuating on a different scale. If I decide to reciprocate his feelings and he gets hurt, I don't think I would be able to live with myself.

Now, standing in front of Zims door, a heavy cloud hanging over his head, Dib thought of a solution that would most likely help them out.

He could suggest they put their feelings through a trial run, essentially go on a date to see how everything works out. If they want to remain friends, then no harm no foul, but if they wanted to go to the next level, he would leave the decision to Zim. Having a relationship could be a huge deal for Irkens, and since Dib viewed everything through practicality, he figured he would be able to stop the relationship should it seem to not be in good standing. He wanted to give Zim a chance to explore his new feelings, and if he decided he didn't want to continue them with Dib, he would let the Irken decide on it.

A cramp in his chest told him he didn't like Zim not wanting to be with him, but he squashed that down when considering Zim's feelings.

It all depended on how their date went, should Zim want to do that, and he wasn't going to get an answer standing outside his door like an idiot.

Taking a deep breath and steeling his nerves, Dib knocked on the door.

 **Thanks for reading! I am taking ideas for a date between Zim and Dib. What would you guys like them to do? Where would you like them to go? Let me know what you think in the Reviews or in a PM. Until Next time! ^_^.**


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